When the Neil Gaiman adaptation Starz series American Gods lost its showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green over creative and budgetary issues last year, actress Gillian Anderson, who played the god Media on the show, decided to follow Fuller and Green out the door. Now that the second season of American Gods is coming together under the guidance of Gaiman and new showrunner Jesse Alexander, the show has also found its replacement for Anderson.
Back in April, TVLine heard that the show was looking for a 20-something Asian actress to take on the role of a god named New Media, who would "symbolize the role of social media in modern American life the same way that Gillian Anderson's Media represented television and pop culture in Season 1." That information has panned out, as it has been announced that the role of New Media, goddess of global content and cyberspace chameleon, is being filled by 20-something South Korean actress Kahyun Kim.
Joining the cast alongside Kim are Dean Winters as Mr. Town, Devery Jacobs as spiritually cynical college student / chainsaw artist Sam Black Crow, and Sakina Jaffrey as Hindu goddess of war Mama-Ji.
Returning cast members include Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Bruce Langley as Technical Boy, Chris Obi as Anubis, Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya, Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, Mousa Kraish as The Jinn, Omid Abtahi as Salim, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, and Yetide Badaki as Bilquis.
It's not clear if Kristin Chenoweth will be back in the role of Easter, as she was considering leaving the show as well after the departures of Fuller, Green, and Anderson.
The second season of American Gods will see
Mr. World task Mr. Town with tracking down Shadow and finding out what he knows about Mr. Wednesday's plan. Town's methods are brutally efficient and may help him get to the root of his and World’s curious questions.
Starz hasn't announced a premiere date for American Gods season two yet, but the show is expected to be back in the air sometime in 2019.