It’s been about a year and a half since the second season of Starz’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods ended. In the time since, a new showrunner has been appointed, some cast members have come and gone, and a pandemic has brought much of the film and TV industry to a complete standstill. But, as the saying goes, the show must go on – and go on it has, with much of the upcoming season’s post-production work happening quietly and remotely throughout the last several months. But finally, after a long wait, American Gods leapt onto the New York Comic Con scene with plenty of news, announcements and reveals about the upcoming season – including new key art and a trailer!

First things first, a trailer for the new season was officially released – showing off plenty of new footage from the show and confirming the timeframe of the season’s premiere: Early 2021. In the trailer, we get our first look at the various incarnations of Mr. World – Crispin Glover, Danny Trejo, and Dominique Jackson – as well as numerous looks at other returning and new characters. It’s a really exciting trailer and the season, as a whole, looks a lot darker than the previous two. I’m beyond intrigued by what they seem to be setting up here and I can’t wait to watch the whole season.

As for other announcements, Neil Gaiman and the rest of the cast (Ricky Whittle, Bruce Langley, Emily Browning, Omid Abtahi, Yetide Badaki, and Ashley Reyes) let lose quite a few things that fans can expect from the upcoming season. Much of the season will take place in Lakeside – a small Wisconsin town familiar to fans of the book. Gaiman compared this portion of the story to Twin Peaks. As the season starts, Shadow (Ricky Whittle) is hiding in Lakeside from the police, the FBI, and the Gods themselves. He feels betrayed by Wednesday; Shadow’s life was full of loss and abandonment and the fact that Wednesday not only abandoned him, but then kept the fact that he was Shadow’s father a secret from Shadow has well and truly burned that bridge. Meanwhile, Wednesday has hired Cordelia (Ashley Reyes) to help him with his tech needs. At first, Cordelia and Shadow might have a prickly relationship, but they eventually warm up to each other.

The season will be filled with journeys of self-discovery. Shadow meets the Orishas and undergoes a journey of self discovery – both about his past and his present. What powers might he have and what role does he play in this war between Gods? Laura (Emily Browning) is trying to put herself back together after Mad Sweeney’s death. We will learn more about her past, which Browning believes will help us sympathize with her more (while still not forgiving her for what she’s done). Laura and Salim (Omid Abtahi) will share a multi-episode storyline as the two of them both overcome their losses. The Jinn (Mousa Kraish) is gone this season, so Salim is back on his own. Abtahi referred to the Jinn as Salim’s crutch, and now that the crutch has been removed, Salim has to figure out how to rebuild himself. For Laura, Salim is the first pure friendship she’s had and she struggles with accepting this and allowing herself to be vulnerable with him.

As for the other Gods, Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) will also go on a journey of self discovery that takes her deep into her past and her roots. She shares more scenes with Tech Boy (Bruce Langley) and with Shadow this season, and her storyline with Tech Boy shows how different-yet-similar the two are. As for Technical Boy, he’s on thin ice with Mr. World (Crispin Glover). As Langley says, Tech Boy has used up “8 of his 9 lives” and then proceeds to make another mistake, leading to him losing access to some fundamental part of him. Tech Boy goes on a similar journey of self discovery where audiences will see him truly vulnerable learn who he is instead of who he wants people to think he is. His relationship with the various incarnations of World (Danny Trejo and Dominique Jackson) remain as prickly as ever and Gaiman believes that we will understand just what the New Gods actually want for the first time.

All in all, it was a great panel filled with a lot of exciting information and teases for the upcoming season. It continues to be such a joy seeing this cast interact with one another. It’s immediately apparent how close they all are and how much comradery is shared amongst them. Many of the new storylines are intriguing as hell and I’m very excited to see where the show goes from here. The entire panel can be viewed below.

American Gods returns to Starz in Early 2021.