In a shocking turn of events, both Michael Green and Bryan Fuller have left American Gods as showrunners and executive producers. In the decade in a half since Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods first made a splash and catapulted the writer to a new level of acclaim, attempts have been made to adapt the story. It wasn't until Fuller and Green helped to craft the series for Starz, however, that Gaiman's vision was turned into a live-action hit.

The first season of the show wove together the disparate tales within Gaiman's tome while also adding new plots and characters. Many of those were overseen and even inspired by Gaiman himself, who served as a producer on the series. The adaptation proved to be a huge hit and Starz ordered season 2 of American Gods before the first was even done airing. The new episodes were set to begin airing in the summer of next year, but production has yet to begin on the series. Now, it looks like there's a major reason why.

Variety is reporting that Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have both exited American Gods, leaving the series without any guiding force. Meanwhile, Deadline speculated that Gaiman himself could come aboard as a showrunner, though he's currently in the midst of adapting his and Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens into a TV series for Amazon.

Update: Neil Gaiman responded on Twitter to speculation he would be stepping into the showrunner position for American Gods, stating, "No, it's not true at all. I'm showrunning Good Omens in the UK until next year, then retiring from showrunning and going back to writing novels for a living."

According to Deadline's sources, American Gods producer Freemantle Media was unhappy with the lack of progress on the new season, as both Fuller and Green have been extremely busy with other projects. Fuller is developing a take on Amazing Stories for Apple, likely leveraging his acclaim from American Gods and Hannibal to do so. Green, meanwhile, recently followed up his success on Logan with Murder on the Orient Express. The film has been given a sequel, and it seems Green is already hard at work on it.

It appears that Fuller and Green weren't idle when it comes to American Gods, however. Apparently, more than half of the scripts for American Gods season 2 are already written, meaning a production start could easily meet Starz's timetable for release. Sadly, it looks like this wasn't a quick enough turnaround for the others involved with the project. The exit is surprising, though, considering how integral Fuller and Green were to adapting Gaiman's vision. And with the first season being such a hit, most networks and production companies would be eager to keep the creatives on board.

With the show now rudderless, it seems unlikely it will hit its target and the future of the series and its quality is now up in the air. Hopefully, more information about season 2 of American Gods will arrive soon and shine more light on the situation.

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Source: Variety