American Gods Canceled By Starz Even Though They Were So Close To The End Of The Book

Disappointing news for fans of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. This week Starz announced that American Gods has been canceled after three seasons. This is even more disappointing considering how close the show was to the end of the book by the end of season 3. There are rumors that Starz might bring the cast back for a TV movie or mini-series to close out the final chapters of the show. But nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

American Gods Canceled After Three Seasons And A Lot Of Drama

Image via Starz

“Everyone at Starz is grateful to the dedicated cast and crew. And our partners at Fremantle who brought author and executive producer Neil Gaiman’s ever-relevant story to life that speaks to the cultural climate of our country,” says a spokesman for Starz.

What exactly happened to American Gods? It was a beloved book that was a highly anticipated adaptation. And the first season got rave reviews. But the series couldn’t find its footing after Bryan Fuller left and took several cast members with him. There is also the glaring issue that this 300 page book was stretched out to 3 seasons. And it still didn’t reach the end of the story.

But maybe a TV movie is exactly what American Gods needs to reach the end of the book at last. It would force the showrunners and author Neil Gaiman (who is heavily involved in production) to focus in on the most important story beats and consolidate all of their messy sprawling storylines.

A Lesson In Adapting Books For The Screen

Image via Harper Collins

It is clear that drawing out the story of American Gods over three seasons was unnecessary. This stretch led to bloated scenes with far too many unnecessary plotlines and characters (looking at you Laura Moon). This cancellation news isn’t entirely surprising, given all of the behind the scenes drama. But it should be noted that the season 3 of American Gods was actually pretty good. Not as good as the first season perhaps, but still a significant improvement over season 2. And it was so close to the end of the book.

Ending the show after the season 3 cliffhanger would mean that instead of becoming a god in his own right, Shadow Moon just… dies. And that’s pretty bad. Also I’m still upset that the Orishas never really had a chance to shine in season 3. I was hoping that next season would allow that to happen. But maybe a TV movie will come along and give us some proper closure for this messy show that had so much potential. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, let’s hope that the upcoming Neil Gaiman series Sandman on Netflix will learn some lessons from this adaptation and stick to the storyline of the comics.

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Emily O'Donnell is a writer and photographer with roots in some of the earliest online fandoms. She cut her genre teeth on the Wizard of Oz books at the tender age of 6 years old, and was reading epic adult fantasy novels by the age of 10. Decades later, she still consumes genre fiction like there is no tomorrow. She is delighted to be living through the golden age of sci-fi and fantasy popularity. She is unashamed of the amount of fanfiction that still lingers online under her name.