Neil Gaiman’s American Gods TV Adaptation Just Cast Its Lead Actor

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome @MrRickyWhittle to the role of Shadow in @AmericanGodsSTZ. It’s just the beginning of the journey.

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 28, 2016

Much has been said about the Starz channel’s upcoming television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, but finally we have some concrete news. The Bryan Fuller-directed series has found its lead actor: Ricky Whittle, one of the stars of CW’s The 100.

Whittle’s casting is a welcome bit of news, as Fuller insisted last year that he’ll be doing his best to ensure the series will be appropriately diverse. Gaiman even shared his approval of Whittle’s casting, saying:

I’m thrilled that Ricky has been cast as Shadow. His auditions were remarkable. The process of taking a world out of the pages of a book, and putting it onto the screen has begun.

American Gods is, at its heart, a book about immigrants, and it seems perfectly appropriate that Shadow will, like so much else, be coming to America. I’m delighted Ricky will get to embody Shadow. Now the fun starts.

We know y’all are pretty big fans of The 100 around here, so we want to know: what do you think about Whittle playing Shadow?

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

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