American Gods trailer, air date, spoilers: 5 things to know about Neil Gaiman's book adaptation before you start watching it

Game of Thrones (GoT) was one of the recent book series that was brought to life and fans enjoyed every twist and turn thrown at them. George RR Martin's book series was so well presented that the show's popularity spread like wild fire. Now, another epic book is being adapted into a TV show. Neil Gaiman's American Gods is all set to make a debut, after much delay and many feel that it could reach the heights of GoT.

The 2001 fantasy novel adaptation will make its way to the small screen in April this year. American Gods will be telecast on the online steaming platform, Starz. The fantasy drama show narrates the tale of Shadow Moon, (an imprisoned man who is released a few days before his sentence is completed), who meets a mysterious identity called Wednesday, following which, Moon's life changes forever.

Also Read: Game of Thrones Season 7 will feature a battle with White Walkers; when will it air?

The show features an array of fine actors. Here's all you need to know about the show:

Developed by: Hannibal's Bryan Fuller and Michael Green

Directed by: First episode is reportedly directed by David Slade

Cast: Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane and Emily Browning

Plot:

The plot posits a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society's modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman, but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

Five things to know about American Gods:

- This was not the first time attempt of bringing the book to life. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO attempted to make American Gods into a show, but stalled the project as they couldn't nail the storyline. That was when Starz decided to take up the project.

- Talking to Wall Street Journal, Gaiman said the first season will feature eight episodes and will cover one third of the book. Though the story ended in one novel, he has been working on the expansion of the book for the series.

- The star cast includes TV favourites. Viewers will see Ian McShane (from Deadwood) donning the role of Wednesday. Pablo Schreiber (from Orange Is the New Black) playing Mad Sweeney, Orlando Jones (of Sleepy Hollow) appearing as Mr Nancy, and Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope fame) as Zorya Vechernyaya, one of the Zorya sisters of Slavic lore. Ricky Whittle will be taking over the lead role, Shadow Moon.

- Shadow Moon has an important back story that is explored in the show. However, for now, through the trailer all one can understand is that he has been released from prison, early, because his wife, Laura, is killed in a car accident.

- While shooting began in Toronto, the show will see Wednesday and Shadow travelling through most of the episodes. So gear up for a road-trip story and spot many iconic locations from USA.

The first episode is scheduled to premiere on April 16 on Starz. Here's the trailer of the supernatural show: