American Gods’ second season has been in a state of flux since the departure of the series’ former showrunners, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, back in November of last year, which was followed swiftly by Gillian Anderson’s exit. Since then, Jesse Alexander has been brought on to helm the series alongside the original novel’s author, Neil Gaiman, and today a replacement for Anderson, who played the New God of Media in Season 1, has been announced.
Kahyun Kim in “Linda Vista.”
Shameless actor Kahyun Kim has been cast as, quite literally, the New Media. According to a report by Deadline, rather than simply taking over for Anderson where her character left off in Season 1, Kim will adopt the role of New Media, a wholly new character who is the goddess of global content, a cyberspace chameleon and a master manipulator.
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How exactly this happens in the narrative of Season 2 has yet to be revealed, but in the first season Ian McShane’s Mr. Wednesday described the transformation of Mr. Wood, a god that sacrificed itself to become something entirely new. Something similar might be in the works for New Media.
The announcement also came with several smaller casting updates. American Gods Season 2 has also brought onboard Dean Winters (Divorce, John Wick) and Devery Jacobs (Cardinal, The Order). Winters will play Mr. Town, while Jacobs is set to play Sam Black Crow. Mr. Town is a pawn of one of the series’ main antagonists, Mr. World.
Dean Winters in “John Wick.”
Devery Jacobs in “The Sun at Midnight.”
Mr. World will task Mr. Town with learning as much about Shadow and Mr. Wednesday’s quest as possible. His “brutal efficiency” is likely to get him his answers, too. Jacobs’ Sam will be a hitchhiking college student who has turned away from spirituality, despite claiming to believe in nearly everything. She makes her living selling chainsaw art on the roadside.
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The second season of American Gods recently began filming. A set video, which heavily featured Gaiman, was recently released, teasing the upcoming plot points and settings of Season 2.
Returning to Starz in 2019, American Gods is helmed by Jesse Alexander alongside Gaiman. The series stars Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Bruce Langley as Technical Boy, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney and Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday. The show’s second season introduces Kahyun Kim as New Media, Dean Winters as Mr. Town and Devery Jacobs as Sam Black Crow.