We'll miss Salim and the Jinn the most.
Mey RudeWhat’s an American God to a nonbeliever?
Starz has announced that they are canceling their ambitious modern fantasy seriesAmerican Gods after three seasons.
The show was known for its wide scope and large cast of interesting and diverse characters including gods, jinns, leprechauns, and more. Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, American Gods follows a man named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) who gets out of jail, meets a man named Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) who turns out to be the Norse god Odin, and gets tangled up in a war between the old gods and the new.
“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,” a spokesperson for Starz told Deadline.
There is some talk of finishing off the story with a TV movie or miniseries, but as ratings steadily declined with each season, the chance of the show coming back in any form is small.
In its first season, the show did a great job of introducing three dimensional queer characters, including two queer Middle Eastern men who formed the show’s hottest couple.
In the third episode of season one, Omid Abtahi’s character Salim, who is a dedicated Muslim meets a taxi driving Jinn and falls in love with him. The Jinn, played by Mousa Kraish, has eyes made of flame and the body of, well, a god. The two have fiery hot supernatural sex and Salim follows the Jinn when he gets involved with the old gods.
Another character, Bilquis, played by Nigerian-born actress Yetide Badaki, gets her powers from being worshiped during sex. Badaki said that the diverse characters and love and sex scenes on the show helped her to feel comfortable enough to come out as bisexual.
For its third and final season, American Gods cast Pose star Dominique Jackson in the role of Ms. World, one of the New Gods. She is a new version of the same character, Mr. World, who was originally played by Crispin Glover. Devery Jacobs also played a two-spirit character named Sam Black Crow on the series.
While the show had some amazing moments and great actors in it, it also suffered from a lot of behind the scenes drama. Several actors, including Orlando Jones, Kristin Chenoweth, Gillian Anderson, and Glover all left the show before it ended, as did the original creators, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.
Jones left the show after it’s third showrunner decided that his character, and many other characters of color, including the Jinn, wouldn’t be returning to the series.
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