American Gods Season 3 is set to air on STARZ January 10, 2021. Based on Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name, the show follows Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) as Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) drags him into the world of the Old and New Gods. Season 2 saw some major reveals, which included Shadow discovering that Wednesday, a.k.a. Odin, is his father. In light of this, as well as being wanted by the FBI, Shadow must decide who he wants to be while hiding out in Lakeside. Whittle returns to portray Shadow, and he sat down with CBR to discuss Shadow's future, as well as what makes the Lakeside storyline so highly anticipated.
CBR: After the events of Season 2 -- the Season 2 finale specifically -- and with Shadow having this big revelation about who he is, what is his purpose in Season 3 now? Who does he identify himself as?
Ricky Whittle: Well, first off, we find him in hiding. He's grown his beard out, his hair out. He's got a normal job. He's in a factory, just working a normal life. He's got his eye on a girl in the workplace. He's shunned his destiny.
He's just found out that, you know, Mr. Wednesday was his father, which makes him technically a demigod, but he doesn't want any part of that world. He's kind of sick of the lies. He's sick of the mystery, and so he just wants a normal life.
It's not until Wednesday again kind of finds him and just throws a grenade in there and just messes it all up again, so he has to give it up again. You know, there's only so far, so long you can hide from destiny, and eventually it will find you, and that's when Wednesday sends him to Lakeside, or he doesn't send him to Lakeside. I might say he manipulates him into going to Lakeside. Let's say Shadow didn't really have a choice.
So, we end up in Lakeside, and it's where Shadow really kind of goes through a journey of self discovery, and until he figures out who he is and what he is, he doesn't want to take any sides. He doesn't want to join anyone.
He doesn't even want to speak to Wednesday, where he becomes this petulant child, where I just don't want to speak to dad, and he keeps hanging up the phone. He doesn't want to see him, and it's not until kind of things start to ramp up with Wednesday's world that Shadow kind of takes an interest, but it's nice to see Shadow with the power and the control and being very proactive and taking those kind of reins as it were this season.
With Lakeside being such a big part of Season 3 this year, what about Lakeside stands out to you? Why is it such a monumental moment in the series finally getting to Lakeside?
It's my favorite part of the book, Neil Gaiman's book, and this is the adaptation. This is where the show and the book really just flip into this murder mystery. It is the first time you've seen Shadow interacting with humans. He's always been surrounded by gods, and now you see him for the first time as the person who knows more than everyone else.
He almost becomes like a detective in this town. He's the new guy, and he's kind of like the helpful stranger. It reminds me of like the old days back when the Incredible Hulk, when Banner used to kind of go from town to town solving crimes, but this is where Shadow finds himself, but he's also in hiding. Like I say, he's on the run from the police and the FBI and all that, so as much as he's trying to help this town, he's also trying to stay quiet because he's got a very busy Mrs. Hinzelmann, who is kind of a self appointed mayor who is in everyone's business, and she's got a lot to hide, and how long can you keep that away from a very nosy neighbor?
Based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, American Gods stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Ian McShane, Omid Abtahi and Ashley Reyes. Season 3 will premiere on Jan. 10, 2021 on STARZ.