In Neil Gaiman’s fantasy story of a war between the old gods of myth and the new gods of modernity, the character anchoring the audience is Shadow Moon — and he has his own ghosts to deal with. I mean that literally as his wife, Laura, comes back from the dead as a haunting presence. In the TV version of American Gods, she is played by Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) and today brings a first look at the character brought to life…or, rather, back to life.

EW revealed the new image of Laura and her reunion with Shadow (Ricky Whittle, formerly of The 100). While Laura was a small figure in Gaiman’s book, Starz’s American Gods will expand her role. Showrunner Bryan Fuller told Collider, “Laura is a huge character for the show,” a sentiment echoed by his showrunner partner Michael Green to the magazine.

He said:

"What really came out of Emily inhabiting Laura is that this is a character for who being dead is not the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. Not because her life was horrible prior, but just in that there’s a level of interest in this new existence for her. Part of the fun of cracking this open with Emily are those conversations we’ve had about where she’s going, what she wants to achieve, and how she [acts] as a character who, in some way, has to experience some wish fulfillment with coming back to life in a non-traditional way."

Another character getting an expanded role in the series is Bilquis, an ancient godless of love and sex played by Yetide Badaki. Vanity Fair recently released a first look image at the deity, while other images preview Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Gillian Anderson as Media, and Bruce Langley as Technical Boy.

Season 1 will only adapt a portion of American Gods, which sees ancient gods like Odin and Anubis fighting for survival against the New Gods, embodiments of money, celebrity, drugs, and other modern obsessions. The series will premiere sometime next year. Check out both images below.