The beloved Grishaverse novels are finally making their way to our screens. We learned about the Netflix adaption of Leigh Bardugo’s books—Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows—back in 2019. Casting announcements soon followed. But now we have an official sneak peek at the series as well as a release date. Here’s the first teaser trailer for Shadow and Bone.
And here’s the full description of the series, straight from Netflix:
Shadow and Bone finds us in a war-torn world where lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free. With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.
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The cast of Shadow and Bone includes Jessie Mei Li (Alina Starkov), Archie Renaux (Malyen Oretsev), Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker), Amita Suman (Inej), Kit Young (Jesper Fahey), and Ben Barnes (General Kirigan). It’s a production from 21 Laps Entertainment, which also brought us Stranger Things. Eric Heisserer is the showrunner, with Bardugo taking an executive producer role.
In January, Netflix also released the first images from the show. Let’s take a look.
First, we have our first glimpse at Jessie Mei Li as ALina Starkov, an orphan soldier in the First Army.
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Here’s another shot of Alina, with her childhood friend Malyen (Archie Renaux), another member of the First Army.
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Here’s another look at Renaux as Malyen.
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Next we have our first glimpse of Ben Barnes as General Kirigan, a.k.a. the Darkling, the head of the Second Army.
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Here, we get a look at Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), and Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter). They’re characters from Six of Crows, another of Bardugo’s Grisha novels being adapted for the show, along with Shadow and Bone.
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And a closer look at Inej.
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And here we get a look at Heartrender and spy Nina (Danielle Galligan) and witch hunter Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman).
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And in February Netflix shared the first look at the fold… which is pretty important. The Shadow Fold is looming over the world, the world’s politics, and everything.
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Fans of the series don’t have to wait too long to see this adaptation. The series hits Netflix on April 23. Want to know more about the book series? Read our Shadow and Bone explainer here.
Shadow and Bone fans, it’s time to get hyped. Only four months to go until the series drops. Are you ready?
Originally published on December 17, 2020 with updates on January 27, 2021 and February 25, 2021.
