Neil Gaiman's 'Anansi Boys' To Be Adapted Into New Amazon Limited Series

After years of behind-the-scenes shakeups and drama, Starz (mercifully) put Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” series out of its misery, handing it a cancellation earlier this year. But that isn’t stopping Gaiman from continuing that story, in a way, with a brand-new studio supporting it.

According to THR, Gaiman has reached a deal with Amazon to produce a six-episode limited series adapting his novel, “Anansi Boys.” The six-episode series is expected to begin production later this year in Scotland and will be written by Gaiman alongside Lenny Henry, Arvind Ethan David, Kara Smith, and Racheal Ofori. Gaiman will also be handling showrunning duties along with Douglas Mackinnon, who directed all of the episodes of the recent series, “Good Omens.” Mackinnon will not be helming episodes of “Anansi Boys,” instead giving the reins to Hanelle M. Culpepper (“Star Trek: Picard”), Jermain Julien (“Grantchester”), and Azhur Saleem (“Doctor Who”), who are all directing episodes.

As mentioned above, though not a full-on sequel to “American Gods,” the new series follows the story of Charlie Nancy, a young man that discovers that his recently deceased father was actually Anansi (aka Mr. Nancy from “American Gods”), the trickster god. In the Starz series, Mr. Nancy was played by Orlando Jones. However, Jones has gone on record saying he was fired from the series as a result of behind-the-scenes drama. So, it’s highly unlikely Jones will return in any capacity. In fact, considering how Amazon is now backing “Anansi Boys” and not Starz, this will likely be a brand-new take on the source material and mythology.

Amazon has a strong history with Gaiman, after the two teamed up for the surprising hit, “Good Omens,” which is heading into Season 2. And Gaiman also is working on the highly anticipated adaptation of “Sandman” with Netflix, so the creator is obviously a big fan of the streaming future.