Fans of Neil Gaiman‘s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning fantasy novel American Gods were no doubt already delighted that it’s finally being turned into a television series, set to air on Starz. But they might be even happier by the news that the author himself will be writing a few episodes. Producer Bryan Fuller revealed Gaiman’s contributions while speaking to Collider. “We are cranking away” at scripts for the first two episodes he said, then added “Neil Gaiman is going to be writing episodes of the show.”
Gaiman joins an illustrious roster of authors who have written episodes of TV shows adapted from their works. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin has himself penned several episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones, as has Stephen King for Under the Dome.
The 2001 novel concerns a brewing war between old and new gods, with traditional gods from myth and religions steadily losing believers to deities that reflect more modern concerns, such as love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. The book centers on Shadow Moon, an ex-con hired as a bodyguard by one of those older gods trying to push back against the new gods’ successes. American Gods was given a straight-to-series order by Starz, and is currently casting Shadow Moon. Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller and Kings creator Michael Green co-created the series. They’ll share executive production duties with Gaiman.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.