American Gods Season 2 Begins Filming

American Gods season 2 has begun filming with a different show-running team in place. Series creators Michael Green and Bryan Fuller did a remarkable job adapting Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods to television in season 1, garnering praise for the Starz series. The show was even able to expand on the original work, with some help from Gaiman himself. But while the author mostly consulted on the first season of the show, he's taking a more hands-on approach this time around due to some creative shake-ups.

Late last year, Fuller and Green exited American Gods due to creative differences. Given how critically acclaimed the series was and how true to the book's spirit the two showrunners were, fans and industry insiders alike were shocked by the move. And while we may never know what exactly transpired, it was reassuring when we learned that Gaiman would step up and take a larger role for season 2. Now, we have our first look at the new and returning faces of the series as the latest batch of episodes has begun production.

Deadline is reporting that American Gods season 2 will be comprised of 8 episodes (the same as season 1) and is expected to arrive in 2019. The first episode of the new season, meanwhile, will be directed by Chris Byrne (Star Trek: Discovery, Hannibal). Along with the announcement that season 2 is now in production, Neil Gaiman shared a photo from a key filming location this season: the real-life House on the Rock in Wisconsin (see the image embedded below).

Me? What am I doing? Oh, just hanging out with gods and mortals at the House on the Rock. Why, yes, that is the Biggest Carousel in the World. Nothing special. (YES, IT WAS AMAZING. YES, IT WAS AS AMAZING AS YOU WOULD THINK.) @GodsOnAmazon @AmericanGodsSTZ pic.twitter.com/BhLEPLTp7d— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 30, 2018

Flanking the author are Yetinde Badaki (Bilquis) and Ricky Whittle (Shadow Moon) on his right and Ian McShane (Wednesday) and Mousa Kraish (The Jinn) on his left. Directly behind Gaiman is American Gods' new showrunner Jesse Alexander, along with Omid Abtahi (Salim) and Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy). The end of season 1 saw all these forces heading to the House on the Rock for a big meeting between the gods. That moment also demonstrated how the show would break up the plot of the book, meaning there's at least a few seasons' worth of story yet to tell.

While the loss of Fuller and Green is unfortunate, it's hard not to have confidence in American Gods season 2 with Gaiman himself involved so heavily. As for Fuller, the move was actually one of several high-profile departures. The creative left Star Trek: Discovery before it even got going, and earlier this year Fuller exited the Amazing Stories reboot for Apple. We will have to wait and see if any of Fuller's future projects work out, but Gaiman is certainly busy.

Along with being more involved in American Gods, Gaiman recently served as showrunner on Good Omens - the upcoming small screen adaptation of the book that he cowrote with Terry Pratchett - and is producing a new TV adaptation of the Gormenghast novels. For fans of Gaiman's work in general, it's certainly an exciting time as the author is able to be directly involved in these adaptations - meaning, American Gods season 2 should be in good hands.