"American Gods," the upcoming Starz series based on Neil Gaiman's award-winning book of the same name, will follow the book to the letter, but it will also do more than just that.

The monster of a tome is packed with tons of colorful characters with individual exciting stories, not to mention the "Coming to America" bits of the novel. However, the series is expected to go beyond the pages.

According to Nerdist, the character of Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) will be expanded even further in the "American Gods" series, which means that fans will get to spend more time with the leprechaun than they did in the book.

Fans who read the novel would know that he was only in a couple of scenes, one of which a crucial part of the story. The latest report suggests that the backstory of Mad Sweeney will be explored in the television show.

Gaiman has already said during the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) that he has written way more content than what was in the book, particularly 4000 years worth of backstory for Mad Sweeney.

However, it just did not make the book as it will make it bigger than it already is. The "American Gods" series will allow this extra content that the author wrote to expand the story.

Sweeney was the person who gave Shadow the coin that, in turn, allowed his dead wife to be a walking corpse.

He realizes this at some point in the book, although his search for it was not actually detailed. The "American Gods" series is expected to take fans through that journey.

During the SDCC, Gaiman also implied that Mad Sweeney will not be the only one getting more screen time in "American Gods." Fans will also get to see a lot more of Shadow's dead wife Laura (to be played by Emily Browning) on the show.

"American Gods" premieres next year on Starz.