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Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys Welcomes Whoopi Goldberg as the God of Birds

Amazon's adaptation of the acclaimed fantasy novel also stars Delroy Lindo as trickster god Mr. Nancy.

Whoopi Goldberg on stage at NYCC
Image: Getty/Pacific Press (Getty Images)

Here’s some more casting news for the highly anticipated Amazon series based on the 2005 novel Anansi Boys from author Neil Gaiman: Whoopi Goldberg has been announced to play the book’s main antagonist, the God of Birds.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Goldberg, a self-proclaimed Gaiman super fan, has officially joined the series. Goldberg joins Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), who stars as Anansi aka Mr. Nancy, the African trickster god of stories, along with Malachi Kirby (Devils), who has a dual role as Mr. Nancy’s sons, Charlie and Spider.

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The six-episode first season follows Charlie and Spider as they discover each others’ existence—and just who their father may have had some feuds with. Getting tangled in his web, they discover that the God of Birds is out for vengeance and she’s got them in her sights. Goldberg told EW, “I have been a fan of this book for a very long time and when Neil Gaiman told me it was being brought to the screen, I did everything I could to be part of it to help make people aware of Anansi and all his magic.”

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Author Neil Gaiman has had a number of his works adapted for the television screen and while American Gods most recently featured the mythological Anansi, this adaptation is completely separate from that universe. For his part, Gaiman says he’s looking forward to working with Goldberg on this take. “I wasn’t able to meet her until 2018, when she interviewed me with some of the Good Omens team at New York Comic Con,” the author said. “At which point she mentioned that she had just finished listening to Sir Lenny Henry’s reading of Anansi Boys, and that it was one of her favorite books.” As it happens, she apparently even inspired the character as he was writing the book, about which Gaiman said, “Sometimes things feel planned and inevitable, and we are incredibly lucky. She’s going to be scary.”

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Anansi Boys is still in pre-production, so its arrival on Amazon Prime probably won’t be until 2023 at the earliest.


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