It’s no secret that—as fantastic as the first season of Starz’s American Gods was—there was enough behind-the-scenes drama involving the show’s co-creators and showrunners Michael Green and Bryan Fuller that they parted ways with the network, casting a certain amount of uncertainty over American Gods’ future.
But American Gods has carried on into its second season, and despite whatever impressions the public might have gotten from the show’s creative shakeups, actor Ian McShane is confident that the new season’s an improvement over the first. Speaking to Den of Geek, McShane expressed his elation to be back in his role as American Gods’ Mr. Wednesday, and spoke briefly about how Green and Fuller’s departure played out from his perspective:
“Lawyers were involved, you couldn’t talk about shit. I think it’s a lot to do with ego, hubris and money. Who knows what the hell happened between Fremantle and Michael and Bryan?
I think a lot of the other actors worried about Michael and Bryan leaving. People at the time were upset, they were all over the place. I’ve been around a little longer, that’s all. Life moves on.”
Obviously, there’s only so much that McShane is allowed to divulge about whatever specific things went down and how they played out on American Gods’ production end. But, given that a number of the show’s other stars departed amidst the drama, McShane’s insistence that American Gods is still very much a show punching above its weight is interesting, if nothing else.