Will there be ‘American Gods’ season 4?

Neil Gaiman TV shows are the stuff of dreams for any network or streaming platform right now. Netflix’s The Sandman and Prime Video’s Good Omens have both been smash-hits, so it’s no wonder both of those services have more projects from the acclaimed author on the way — look out for Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives and Prime’s Anansi Boys in time.

And yet the first of the modern era was American Gods, which premiered on Starz back in 2017. Based on Gaiman’s sprawling road movie of a fantasy novel of the same name, released in 2001, the series followed Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), an ex-con who lands a job working for the mysterious Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), who it turns out is Odin of Norse mythology. From there, Shadow is ushered into an epic world of old and new gods.

Initially, American Gods opened to widespread popularity, with both critics and audiences, but unfortunately both ratings and the goodwill from viewers dwindled over the years and the last we saw of the show was season 3 in 2021. But what caused the series’ fall from grace and could we ever get a fourth season?

What in the name of Odin happened to American Gods?

As developed for television by Hannibal‘s Bryan Fuller and Logan‘s Michel Green, with Gaiman as an exec producer, American Gods promised to be the next breakout prestige fantasy series when it premiered in 2017. And, for its first eight episodes, it was, with lovers of the novel praising the way it expanded on Gaiman’s text as well as staying true to the spirit of the book. The cast, meanwhile, was an embarrassment of riches, with the ensemble including many of the finest character actors in the business. e.g. Crispin Glover, Gillian Anderson, Orlando Jones, Pablo Schreiber, Betty Gilpin, and Peter Stormare.

Unfortunately, behind-the-scenes changes killed much of the momentum going into season 2. Similar to his split from Star Trek: Discovery after one season, Fuller exited the production over clashes with the network and Jesse Alexander was appointed to replace him in February 2018. Alexander’s vision for the series proved just as disagreeable for Starz, however, and he was removed from the project by that September, leaving producing director Chris Byrne and line producer Lisa Kussner in charge.

Needless to say, this creative upheaval showed on screen and viewers grew restless with a rather rambling and unfocused second season. Charles Eglee was then brought on as showrunner for season 3, but his era only brought even more bad press. Jones was removed from the series as the fan-favorite Mr. Nancy, with the actor claiming that his character was written out because he sent “the wrong message for Black America.” Similarly, casting Marilyn Manson in a recurring role turned out to be a bad idea when he became embroiled in multiple sexual assault allegations.

Could American Gods be resurrected for a fourth season?

At the time of writing, it seems unlikely that American Gods could get a fourth season. Certainly at its original home of Starz. On Mar. 29 2021, just a week after season 3 had finished airing, the network announced the show’s cancellation. This hit hard for those still loyal to the series as the last episode had ended on a cliffhanger — Eglee and Gaiman had believed season 4 was a sure thing and so had already been developing new storylines.

All in all, American Gods serves as a cautionary tale about too many cooks in the kitchen spoiling the broth. Thankfully, for the likes of Sandman and Good Omens, Gaiman himself was allowed much more creative control, which worked out for the best. Maybe one day an American Gods revival or remake can recapture the positive buzz the Starz production once had. But when could that happen? Gods only know.