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'American Gods' Character Portraits Reveal OMG Gods

Starz

The magical deities of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods have snazzy new portraits. Bryan Fuller, who is helming the television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel along with Michael Green, has released shiny new images featuring a mixture of old gods and new gods that populate this story.

The basic premise revolves around a brewing war between Old Gods from various mythological pantheons and New Gods America currently worships like technology and media. Back-lit as if the characters are lounge singers and emblazoned with the exclamation “OMG,” the portraits are simultaneously dramatic and playful, much like the tone of the story itself.

The first features Ricky Whittle as the protagonist Shadow, an ex-con who embarks on a strange and mysterious road trip with a strange and mysterious new employer named Mr. Wednesday. In his portrait, he stands in a forest with a coin in his hand, performing one of his signature coin tricks. In Wednesday’s portrait, Ian McShane stands in the middle of a desolate road with ravens on his arms. This fits his character’s secret identity as the Nordic god Odin. Shadow’s wife Laura, who is a large part of the story even though she’s dead, sports punk-looking angel wings and stands against a cross. Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba who memorably sexes a man to death and devours him with her vagina, sits in a pose alluding to that infamous scene.

Yetide Badaki as Bilquis

Starz

Peter Stromare as the old Slavic god Czernobog stands in a field clutching his signature hammer, and Crispin Glover’s mysterious character Mr. World, the leader of the New Gods, wears a polished suit and trench coat against a Matrix-esque backdrop.

Orlando Jones, who plays the African trickster god known as Mr. Nancy, sports bright pinstripe threads.

Orlando Jones as Nancy

Pablo Schreiber’s leprechaun king Mad Sweeney looks … well, quite mad.

Pablo Schreiber

Kristin Chenoweth as the old god Easter sports a pastel ensemble, while Bruce Langley as the new god Technical Boy rocks his updated Instagram teen look.

American Gods premieres April 30 on Starz. OMG.

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