Deadwood’s Al Swearengen has competition for the status of Ian McShane’s coolest character. American Gods – coming to the UK on Amazon Prime in 2017 – has him playing the mysterious Wednesday. The new issue of Empire – onsale on 25 August – boasts a new image of McShane’s Mr Wednesday. Well, it is Wednesday. It’s his day.
American Gods chronicles the struggle between the gods of old and new, such as Gillian Anderson’s Media and Bruce Langley’s Technical Boy). The story finds Shadow (Ricky Whittle) trying to come to grips with the death of his wife when he falls under the charismatic spell of McShane’s mysterious Wednesday.
The show's powerhouse creative duo of Bryan ‘Hannibal’ Fuller as showrunner and fantasy doyen Neil Gaiman providing the source material bodes exceptionally well. “We want to craft a Marvel Universe with many different mythologies of higher beings,” Fuller tells Empire of plans for multi-series arcs. “[We’re] executing a meticulous weave of characters and storylines, really getting into the nooks and crannies.”
Fuller describes the concept enticingly as “Clash Of The Titans meets The Grifters”, emphasising that the story – and the world it’s set in – will reveal themselves slowly. “The series tells the tale of an atheist who becomes an agnostic who becomes a believer who becomes a zealot who becomes a demi-god who becomes a god. That’s your series arc.” Only one of those steps will be completed in the first season, he stresses.
Amazon Prime will be showing American Gods in the UK, Germany, Austria and Japan in 2017, while US network Starz has it earmarked for airing Stateside. Meanwhile, it's one of the many big releases covered in the new Empire’s big autumn/winter preview.
Pick up the issue on Thursday 25 August from all good newsagents or subscribe to Empire right here{