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Bryan Fuller: Princess Leia and Mr. Rogers could have been on S2 of American Gods
Don Kaye
Dec 17, 2018, 4:12 PM EST
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While the circumstances of Bryan Fuller's absence from American Gods still remain a mystery, the veteran showrunner has shed a little light on the plans he had for the show's second season.
Fuller and co-showrunner Michael Green abruptly exited the series in November 2017 after an acclaimed first season and while in the midst of prepping Season 2, with the reasons for their departure never quite made clear.
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Most of the speculation centered around the desire on the part of the network behind the show, Starz, to lower the price tag for the second season after the first eight episodes reportedly ran $30 million over budget. It was assumed that Fuller and Green were perhaps not happy with the idea of compromising their vision and split as a result.
But in a post on Twitter that was seemingly later removed, Fuller confirmed he and Green didn't quit, but were let go over the budget battles. He also hinted a little about their plans for the second season, including some intriguing new identities for the god known as Media.
"Me @andmichaelgreen never abandoned @AmericanGodsSTZ @GodsOnAmazon," he wrote in the post. "We were dedicated to cast, crafted the season, wrote 5 episodes, even had Media as Mr. Rogers & Princess Leia. We were in the process of reducing scope due to a dramatic budget reduction when we were fired."
Media is the new god, played by Gillian Anderson during Season 1, who appeared in the form of famous personalities such as Lucy Ricardo, Marilyn Monroe, David Bowie and Judy Garland.
Anderson left the show after the first year and has been replaced by Kahyun Kim, with the character itself now renamed New Media and described as the "god of social media."
Was licensing the images of Fred Rogers and Princess Leia one of the costs that Starz hoped to reduce in producing Season 2? We may never know, especially since the Media character herself has now been reconfigured. But it would have been intriguing to see Media appear as two of the most iconic media personalities — one real, one fictional — of the past 50 years.
Season 2 of American Gods has continued to be wracked by turbulence, with replacement showrunner Jesse Alexander getting fired earlier this fall and the show now being completed under the supervision of book author Neil Gaiman, producing director Chris Byrne and line producer Lisa Kussner. Hopefully it all settles down and the show brings us some more wonders old and new when Season 2 premieres on March 10, 2019.
(via io9)
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