'American Gods' Clip: Meet Mr. Mr. Nancy

It seems like most of us who watched American Gods this past Sunday are already finding ourselves engrossed in the ambitious Starz series. With the Neil Gaiman adaptation, co-creators Bryan Fuller and Michael Green took their time introducing Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), and Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) in a character-driven and atmospheric pilot. They got fantastic introductions – giving us a clear sense of who they are, not so much what they want.

On the next episode of American Gods, the brewing war between the old gods and the new may get more attention, but there's still a few key new players to introduce, such as Mr. Nancy/Anansi, played by Orlando Jones. Below, you can watch his introduction in a new American Gods clip.

Mr. Nancy is a West African God and a trusted ally of Mr. Wednesday. When Wednesday holds a meeting in his mind with the tired and weary gold Gods, it's Mr. Nancy who tries to lighten up the room first with his wit, telling the story of how he once stole Tiger's balls and laid the blame on Old Monkey. That, he explains, is why Tiger chase Old Monkey. It's quite a story, but Mr. Nancy is full of stories.

The character, who has the power to turn into a spider, has a different intro in the Starz series. While wearing a plaid suit, the character appears on an African slave ship heading to America to deliver a powerful speech that showcases the series' ability to step between fantastical storytelling and modern relevance:

The African Trickster God isn't the only new character we'll meet on American Gods next week. In episode two, "The Secret of Spoons," Shadow Moon will make an interesting wager with an old Slavic god, Czernobog (Peter Stormare), who wields one mighty, head-crushing hammer. When those two Gods appear next week, the world and stakes of American God should get a little bigger, as the story becomes a little clearer.

Shadow Moon's journey is off to a great start. 975,000 viewers tuned in for the premiere. After three showings on Starz, it attracted a total of 1.4 million viewers, per Deadline. Fingers crossed those viewership numbers will continue to rise for the series, which should benefit from word-and-mouth and praise from critics.

Here's the synopsis for the Starz series:

"American Gods" posits a different kind of war brewing—one between Old Gods and New. The traditional Old Gods, with mythological roots from around the world, fear irrelevance as their believers die off or are seduced by the money, technology, and celebrity offered by the New Gods. Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is an ex-con who, left adrift by the recent death of his wife, becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to conman Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). But in truth, Mr. Wednesday is a powerful old deity, on a cross-country mission to build an army and reclaim his lost glory.

American Gods airs on Sundays on Starz.