Bestselling writer Neil Gaiman is the co-author of Good Omens (alongside the much-missed Terry Pratchett), as well as the co-showrunner of Amazon Studios’ hit TV adaptation. To the constant surprise of unassuming, casual Internet consumers, Gaiman is also a Tumblr power user. He spends a fair amount of time on the social blogging site, where he fields thousands of fan questions across a range of topics and properties.
While Gaiman often expounds on serious issues seriously, he’s also known for having fun with fans and answering queries with tongue firmly in cheek. Having answered innumerable questions in the run-up to Good Omens‘ second season and its emotional aftermath, Gaiman has a teasing tactic when it comes to season three. He responds to fan “asks” (a Tumblr form of messaging) about season three in a light-hearted fashion that makes me laugh whenever the posts cross my Tumblr dashboard. He calls these “special spoilers.”
Let’s get this out of the way: a third season has not yet been officially confirmed by Amazon Studios (the writers and actors’ strikes struck right at the launch of Good Omens 2), but if I were to place betting odds, I’d imagine the third season is getting a green light. Gaiman has said that he already knows the shape of it (and is working on the scripts), the second season had a glowing 87% score from critics and an exuberant 96% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen seem so devoted to seeing Good Omens through that I think they’d act it out in a backyard for fans if needs must. What Gaiman won’t do, however, is spoil what’s actually in store for a potential season three. Instead, he’s provided a fantastical and Gaiman-esque narrative for us all to contemplate.
Take, for example, the questioner who asked Gaiman on Tumblr in October 2023: “Is Crowley gonna ‘go evil’ in season 3, or is he going to be a miserable little dude.” Gaiman cannot, of course, reveal whether Crowley will “go evil” in season three, though if I’m placing betting money again, it’d be on Crowley being at least a smidge miserable in the aftermath of Aziraphale’s departure for a new job in Heaven. Gaiman’s reply to the question was much more engaging than ignoring it or a vague “sorry, can’t say.” He wrote, deadpan:
Good Omens Season 3 opens with Crowley’s wedding to Sadie. They make love passionately behind a screen for the rest of episode 1 while people dressed as enormous rabbits bring them jam sandwiches, and talk about the weather. Then Crowley gets eaten by goats and dies, and we never find out if he would have been good or evil, happy or sad, or indeed if he would have had anything else to do in Season 3. It will be frustrating for the audience, but very artistic.
There’s much to appreciate here. Gaiman, who is one of the best-known authors and showbiz creatives alive today, with no doubt more projects cooking than we can count, is giving fans a zany “story” that entertains while at the same time highlighting the inherent absurdity of asking Neil Gaiman to confirm or deny major plot points for the Good Omens adaptation in the first place.
This was far from the first mention of Crowley’s “wife” Sadie, nor would be it be the last. (Pre-season 2, there were quite a few posts about Sadie, another “romantic interest,” Dottie, and their “adventures” with our favorite angel and demon pair. Check out this unmissable reply when Gaiman was asked to detail what happens in the second season.) The fake spoiler side of Good Omens has evolved a life of its own, prompting fans to ask questions directly about it, too.
Gaiman has provided many such “special spoilers,” and I recommend perusing them on his Tumblr page under their tag. If you’re not a Tumblrina, the endeavoring X (formerly Twitter) account neil gaiman tumblr asks struggle has documented a vast array of them into one handy thread.
There was even the time that Tumblr in-jokes and meta-narratives collided into a sort of meme supernova and Gaiman weighed in on how much Good Omens was informed by the cinematic masterpiece Goncharov. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, congratulations, you are mostly offline! You are making healthy decisions as an inhabitant of our hell planet.)
The Special Spoilers With Sadie And Dottie: A Thread pic.twitter.com/hFxrddQL1N
— neil gaiman tumblr asks struggle (@neilaskstruggle) October 15, 2023
The degree of absurdist in-jokery at play is really a thing that can only exist on Tumblr. This is why many of us are still on Tumblr, and why others are returning as TwitterX’s toxicity and general chaos appear to increase on the daily.
As recently as November 2023, Gaiman continues to forward the “special spoilers” “plotline.”
In an era where the borders between fans and creatives can become blurred and crossed in unproductive ways, “special spoilers” are indeed special. Maybe folks should think twice about asking creators to spoil their plots, but since thinking twice isn’t the strongest suit of internet use in these here ’20s, it’s great fun to watch Gaiman turn the whole discourse on its head. Sometimes something strange and entertaining and wholly new can emerge from unexpected avenues. Just be careful when you wish for Neil Gaiman to answer your ask, because you just might get it.
(via Neil Gaiman on Tumblr, image: Amazon Studios)
