The "American Gods" television series by Starz will expand its source material — the multi-award-winning novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman — in the sense that it will delve deeper into the stories of the characters.
This will explain why Jesus Christ, who was only mentioned in the novel at the concluding part, a section that is not even included in most editions of the book, will be a bigger part of the series with actor Jeremy Davies set to play the role.
In an interview with GQ Magazine, showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green explained why "American Gods" will see more of Jesus Christ than how he was featured in the book.
"We wanted to get an indication of the relationship between the old gods who have retained their power and old gods who have lost their power. Jesus Christ, being 2000 years old and some change, is a relatively 'new' god of the older god category—and has done quite well for himself, in terms of worship," Fuller explained.
"Bringing him in is a compare-and-contrast for how Christianity usurped and absorbed many other religious iconography," the showrunner went on to say.
"American Gods" will explore the "many different cultural interpretations" of Jesus in an effort to stay true to the book's overarching theme, which is the manifestation of oneself's beliefs.
This, in turn, leads to many versions of Jesus in the universe with Green explaining that each and every person has their own version of him shaped by their individual beliefs.
Fuller said that Davies will represent an interpretation of Jesus Christ in "American Gods." They did not elaborate on that, though.
Gaiman has written a lot of content and stories for the novel's characters that did not make it to the final book. It was revealed that he whipped up 1200 pages worth of content, although just half of it was included in the published material.
Gaiman's Hugo Award-winning book should provide the "American Gods" series more than enough content to last the adaptation years in the small screen.
"American Gods" is scheduled to premiere next year on Starz.
