Bruce Langley plays the ever-evolving Technical Boy, a powerful god who feeds off your devotion to the Internet.
- Jul 15, 2016
AceShowbiz - Starz has unleashed another photo from its upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman's contemporary fantasy novel, "American Gods". The new picture which is released via EW gives the first look at the Technical Boy.
Bruce Langley plays the ever-evolving villain, who is described as a powerful god who feeds off your devotion to the Internet. First introduced in Gaiman's 2001 novel as something of a pimply "Matrix" fanboy, the character gets a retro upgrade for 2017. Still, co-showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green think they "needed to establish a frame of reference for the aesthetic of the Technical Boy," which is Commodore 64.
"That will mean more to the audience once they understand more of the Technical Boy's story - why the Commodore 64 and that era of technology is so informative for the look of him and the story and the general aesthetic when we first sample his world," Fuller says.
Fuller and Green also say the Technical Boy changes a lot from the book iteration due to the evolution of technology itself, and his look is now "more punk than god." Green explains, "Technology has gone from something that was the province of the young to something ubiquitous and in your pocket, and the aesthetics of that have changed."
"Technology very much has a tie into fashion, which goes in cycles and changes overnight," he continues, "What's in fashion, technologically, and what's in fashion, in fashion, are minute to minute and you can't possibly keep up. And we look to the Technical Boy to be someone who's very much a victim of both. The idea of feeling like you have to feed the beast of what's new and what's fresh is very much in his mind."
On how much his look is different from the book iteration, Green teases, "Nothing he's wearing could have been accomplishable 15 years ago when the book first came out. His clothes reflect modern methods that even we were introduced to for this [show]."
He adds, "Every time you see the Technical Boy, he'll be in something else, completely different regalia. Like a lot of people in that period, he's constantly trying on new looks and new personas."
"American Gods" follows Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), an ex-con who becomes bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), a con man but in reality one of the older gods who travels across America to gather American manifestations of the Old Gods of ancient mythology to prepare for a battle against the New American Gods.
Also in the cast are Gillian Anderson as Media, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Crispin Glover as Mr. World, Jonathan Tucker as Low Key Lyesmith, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Demore Barnes as Mr. Ibis, and Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya.
The new series is set to premiere in 2017. More details are expected to be revealed when the show is presented during San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 22 at 3:15 P.M. in Room 6BCF.
