'American Gods' Spoilers, News Details: SXSW Premiere Gathered Positive Reviews; Show to Deviate From Book Source
The television series adaptation of Neil Gaiman's best-selling 2001 fantasy novel, "American Gods," premiered its pilot episode during the SXSW Conference on Saturday, March 11.
The highly-anticipated show debuted its first episode in front of a full-packed venue in Austin, Texas. It seems like the long-awaited adaptation did not disappoint fans as it was welcomed with praises.
CNBC writer and editor, Chris Morris, tweets that the show "is the real deal," adding that it was "very faithful to the book with a good update to modern times."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Rotten Tomatoes' interview with book fans Cheyenne and Jo Kerth also held good reviews for the series premiere. Cheyenne loves "the expansion of the female characters," while Jo was "excited to see the different ethnicities of characters."
"American Gods" stars Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, a ex-convict who was granted an early release when his wife, Laura (Emily Browning), dies unexpectedly.
Shadow then meets a mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) who hires him for a job under mysterious circumstances. Through this, Shadow becomes involved in a battle between the belief of the old gods, and the "new gods," such as modern-day technology.
Showrunner Bryan Fuller noted that their adaptation became more timely and relevant with the current political climate of America, saying that it was a different show when they first set out to make it. "We are now telling massive immigration stories in a climate that vilifies immigrants," he said, adding that "we have a strange new platform to start a different kind of conversation."
Gaiman also agreed through a tweet, telling a fan that they did not intend to make a politically-relevant show, it just so happened that the book is about immigrants and America.
In addition, Fuller already makes it clear that the series will be deviating from its source material, and that even fans of the book will have no clue about what will be going on.
This includes a more expanded role for Shadow's wife, Laura, in which co-showrunner Michael Green says that the show will offer a different perspective of the events from that of the book. The changes, however, were already approved by Gaiman.
After its SXSW screening, "American Gods" will premiere on Starz, 9 p.m. EDT, on April 30.
