Upcoming Netflix series, Shadow and Bone, has some high expectations to live up-to. The fantasy show is pegged to be the next Game of Thrones.
Fantasy and mystic TV series are in more demand than ever with shows like The Witcher proving to be a success. The next addictive series Shadow and Bone is an adaptation of bestselling novels by author Leigh Bardugo.
The creative team includes Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy. Meanwhile David J. Peterson, who created the Game of Thrones languages Dothraki and High Valyrian, will be creating the Grishaverse languages alongside Christian Thalman.
Oscar-nominated screenplay writer, Eric Heisserer, known for Bird Box has also joined the crew. Heisserer made the creative decision to cast mainly fresh faces for the Shadow and Bone series. The showrunner explained he is usually,
“More enamoured with actors who step into a role and they aren’t branded with the fame of a role that I identify with them elsewhere. I don’t see them as so-and-so playing Jesper or Alina or whatever the case may be.”
Source: Den of Geek
Author Leigh Bardugo shared a similar sentiment, comparing the characters storyline with the new cast,
“This is a story about young people who have been overlooked and who’ve never had the chance to show people what they can do.”
Source: Elle
What is Shadow and Bone about?
The Netflix series will explore the war-torn universe while battling “dark forces”. Jessie Mei Li plays protagonist Alina Starkov, an orphan mapmaker and newly discovered Grisha. Used as weapons for war, the Grisha are powerful magicians. Ben Barnes, as the Darkling has been renamed Gereal Kirigan for the Netlfix adaptation. The Darkling is a complicated character whose not to be trusted.
However if you are a fan of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, don’t get caught up on facts from the novels. Netflix’s adaptation has combined the Grishaverse trilogy with Leigh Bardugo’s duolgy Six of Crows to create a new universe. The duology follows an underground gang of thieves and spies planning a heist. The main characters in either series never cross paths in the novels. But we can assume their stories will intertwine in the adaptation.
The alteration to the Shadow and Bone universe is not the only aspect changing in the Netflix adaptation. According to Bardugo, the screen adaptation will be “radically different from the books”. However, Bardugo affirms that she is pleased with Netflix’s creative interpretation.
The Shadow and Bone series will release April 23rd 2021 on Netflix.
Watch the trailer below:
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