Whittle takes on fantasy role of Shadow Moon.

British actor Ricky Whittle – who is currently starring as grounder Lincoln in sci-fi drama The 100 – has been cast in the lead role of Shadow Moon in Starz upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed fantasy novel, American Gods.

Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are the writers and showrunners for American Gods, which tells the mythological story of a war brewing between the traditional mythological gods of of old from around the world against the new American Gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Whittle plays protagonist, Shadow Moon, an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, a conman who in reality is one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

Whittle is probably best known to UK audiences as Calvin Valentine in teen soap Hollyoaks before moving to America in which he has also featured in Mistresses before joining The 100.

Spoiler: The 100 fans don’t read below if you don’t want to spoiled for Season 3.

Lincoln’s character arc in The 100, is said to be coming to an end in the third season of the CW drama (which airs on E4 in the UK), which for anyone who has seen the previous series’ will know that’s a probable death sentence for Octavia’s boyfriend.

American Gods is produced by FremantleMedia North America, and is set to begin shooting in April.