# American Gods coming to HBO-are we happy about this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212 "2011-06-12T12:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/21 "2011-06-12T21:22:26Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > So what ever happened to the HBO “Under the Dome” series? This. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/22 "2011-06-12T21:27:26Z")
My Mr Wednesday has always been Anthony Hopkins- which is rather odd, given someone else clearly sees him as [Norse God material](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.hollywood.com/site/thor-odin-loki.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hollywood.com/news/First_Look_Anthony_Hopkins_As_Odin_In_Thor/7009564&h=400&w=600&sz=40&tbnid=ck_2Zwin2KhVJM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthor%2Banthony%2Bhopkins%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=thor+anthony+hopkins&hl=en&usg=__PSuDj8N_DFA5jMgNkqfMApsvKAE=&sa=X&ei=sy31TYzBBoKEhQeww_znBg&ved=0CDcQ9QEwBQ&dur=25). Shadow fits in with the Egyptian gods, who are perceived as black, without anyone questioning it- I think it is pretty obvious that he should be played by an actor “of colour”, although not necessarily black. Like I said, it is going to be hard to cast him, but as long as NG has the final say it will probably be ok. Oh, and I love Neverwhere (the book) much more than Neverwhere (the TV series) which was hampered by a tiny BBC budget and series length. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/23 "2011-06-12T21:38:43Z")
The main thing about Shadow is that he is supposed to be big, and physically imposing. Gaiman makes a point of restating this often so you remember. As long as he is played by a big guy who is either dusky, or dark and ethnic enough to be made up to indeterminate _properly_ there is no reason to pout. Gaiman never mentioned race. What would ruin it is if he’s played by a small man. It ruins a big portion of the interaction between him and the other characters. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/24 "2011-06-12T22:14:23Z")
Maybe someone like [Manu Bennett](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071847/), [Dwayne Johnson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425005/) or (as an outsider)[Robbie Magasiva](http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=robbie+magasiva&hl=en&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EDr1TaqtM46wuAOjooTsBg&ved=0CCMQsAQ&biw=1003&bih=592) could play Shadow? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/25 "2011-06-12T22:22:17Z")
I like [Alexander Skarsgard](http://www.google.com/search?q=Alexander+skarsgard&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1440&bih=742)for Low Key. Or for most anything else. If Ed Asner is still in good enough physical condition in his 80s he’d make a good Czernobog. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/26 "2011-06-12T22:24:14Z")
I like [Giancarlo Esposito](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&pq=gus+fring&xhr=t&q=giancarlo+esposito&cp=10&qe=Z2lhbmNhcmxvIA&qesig=urBtDGj7nBK7_kWNVTGSJg&pkc=AFgZ2tkroUDo9oz2zz9GyXkKv6KeRtNccgjv8_9wA2cp77vReFv3Lisq00Sw_CRwlX5F0fjUda2V0RzTMFfuXVe8jf95Jy6djw&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1440&bih=742&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi) for Mr. Ibis. I’d pictured Bernard Hughes as Hinzelmann but as he’s dead he might not be available; I wonder how Ian McKellan would do as “colorful curmudgeon [with a little secret]”? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/27 "2011-06-12T23:19:17Z")
I’m kinda stoked. I’ve always thought American Gods was an awesome concept somewhat weakened by Gaiman’s execution. It starts plot-heavy and dark and mysterious, then detours into an odd (but good!) “episodic” sideplot with Hinzelman, then veers towards an ending that’s never fully sat right with me. I really like the book, but I’ve also always thought the concept and characters are better than the book itself. A loose adaptation of the plot with a solid interpretation of the core cast could go a long, long ways with me. ---
**Author:** ![Caiata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Caiata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caiata)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/28 "2011-06-13T01:33:40Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I pictured Sean Connery when reading the novel A-G as Mr. Wednesday. [Brian Blessed](http://www.denofgeek.com/siteimage/scale/800/600/74453.png) also. > [@irishgirl](#): > > My Mr Wednesday has always been Anthony Hopkins- which is rather odd, given someone else clearly sees him as [Norse God material](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.hollywood.com/site/thor-odin-loki.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hollywood.com/news/First_Look_Anthony_Hopkins_As_Odin_In_Thor/7009564&h=400&w=600&sz=40&tbnid=ck_2Zwin2KhVJM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthor%2Banthony%2Bhopkins%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=thor+anthony+hopkins&hl=en&usg=__PSuDj8N_DFA5jMgNkqfMApsvKAE=&sa=X&ei=sy31TYzBBoKEhQeww_znBg&ved=0CDcQ9QEwBQ&dur=25). I read _American Gods_ while I was also re-watching all of _Third Rock From the Sun_, and for some reason, the first time we meet Wednesday in the book I got it in my head that he was William Shatner’s character in 3rd Rock. And I couldn’t shake that image out of my mind, even as it became more and more obviously ridiculous. It kinda ruined the book for me. I’m looking forward to this, if only to see Wednesday as a different actor! Then maybe with my brain palate cleansed, I can go back and read the book again and enjoy it a lot more 🙂 Please don’t cast William Shatner as Wednesday! ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/29 "2011-06-13T01:35:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If Ed Asner is still in good enough physical condition in his 80s he’d make a good Czernobog. Maybe Bob Hoskins? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/30 "2011-06-13T01:42:47Z")
Kinda bizarre that they’re touting the special effect budget. I’d think one reason the book would appeal to producers is that, since it takes place in modern America, you could film it pretty cheaply, at least compared to most other fantasy works. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/31 "2011-06-13T01:47:01Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I think he’s described as having light brown skin that could place him any racial category. I seem to remember that it was a minor plot point that Shadow was of indeterminate race. He didn’t know himself, and people would ask him if he was black, Latino, Indian, or what. I think his mother was white, but his father was presumably something else. No one guessed Norse god His mother is black, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/32 "2011-06-13T04:04:05Z")
Quoth **Alan Smithee** : > [@](#): > > I liked that too. I liked even more that I don’t think anywhere in Anansi Boys is it explicitly stated that Fat Charlie or any of the other characters is black. If it is, it’s rather subtly mentioned later in the book. What is mentioned explicitly is that a certain character is white. It very effectively sets the scene without drawing attention to race at all. > > I think it bothered me before I read Anansi Boys, but now especially it bothers me when I read any character in a novel described as black if none of the other characters have been described as a certain race. One of Harlan Ellison’s few upbeat stories (I think it was called “Paladins of the Lost Hour”) had an interesting take on this. Just after introducing the two main characters (one saves the other from a mugger), he mentions “One of these men was white, and the other was black”, without ever in the story specifying which was which. And _American Gods_ will work far better as a TV series than it would as a movie, even a long one. What really makes the book work is the reader taking time to stop and think about what’s going on. Waiting a week from one episode to the next is enough time. Waiting from one scene to the next in a movie isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/33 "2011-06-13T10:55:38Z")
I think for Shadow , your best bet for racially ambiguous is someone Pacific Islander, like Temuera Morrison or Jason Momoa. Most African American actors are not racially ambiguous enough, I think. Keith Hamilton Cobb, _maybe_? Wentworth Miller (too babyfaced, IMO), maybe, or more likely [Dominic Purcell](http://images.askmen.com/galleries/men/dominic-purcell/pictures/dominic-purcell-picture-1.jpg?iact=hc&vpx=119&vpy=86&dur=41&hovh=256&hovw=197&tx=99&ty=112&ei=Vuz1TZf0E8OY8QO4h6GyBw&page=1&tbnh=126&tbnw=99&start=0&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0). ETA Maybe Benjamin Bratt? ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/34 "2011-06-13T13:08:59Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Shadow fits in with the Egyptian gods, who are perceived as black, without anyone questioning it- I think it is pretty obvious that he should be played by an actor “of colour”, although not necessarily black. I’m about 1/3 through the book right now, and my impression has been that Shadow fits in with everyone, from Mad Sweeney to the Egyptians to Sammi. I just figured one of his characteristics was that people didn’t notice much about him beyond his size. Kind of like his name, he tends to resemble whomever he’s currently accompanying. I wonder how they’ll portray the God that Shadow cannot describe or remember? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/35 "2011-06-13T13:10:45Z")
I saw that Neil tweeted a comment to the effect that six seasons means he now has to get started on writing the second _American Gods_ book. So, it’s not six seasons for the one book. Also, I’m hoping that this _finally_ gives me enough clues to figure out who the god is that no one can ever remember. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/36 "2011-06-13T17:55:52Z")
I always assumed the indescribable God was the Jewish G-d. No images, never seen etc. I could be _way_ off base. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/37 "2011-06-13T17:59:43Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I was kinda _meh_ on the book, but I like Neil Gaiman’s other stuff enough that I’m willing to give the story another look in this form. I loved the idea of the book. I thought the execution left a bit to be desired. I’ll probably watch it - especially if it’s a 6 season, not-quite-adaptation so that some of the bits of the book can get cleaned up. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/38 "2011-06-13T18:32:02Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I saw that Neil tweeted a comment to the effect that six seasons means he now has to get started on writing the second _American Gods_ book. So, it’s not six seasons for the one book. > > Also, I’m hoping that this _finally_ gives me enough clues to figure out who the god is that no one can ever remember. The second book is unalloyed good news. I really loved the first one. And I, also, want to know who that god was. According to an old entry in Gaiman’s blog, a few people have figured it out. It didn’t say how or who the god was, though. I can’t see JHWH having an urge to hang around Las Vegas, drawing energy from the gambling. This guy was big on chance, cash, and foretelling. I always thought that the drink he ordered was a clue, but don’t remember what it was off hand. Was it Irish Whiskey? ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/39 "2011-06-13T22:36:32Z")
Damn I can’t even remember that bit… Time to track down who I lent my copy to. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212/40 "2011-06-13T22:51:22Z")
I think this sounds great, except that I don’t have HBO. I hope they do a good job designing the Car Gods mentioned (in a single sentence) in the big battle. That concept struck me as extremely interesting when I read the book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-coming-to-hbo-are-we-happy-about-this/585212.md?page=3)