First Look Photos for Netflix's Fantasy Series SHADOW AND BONE and Story Details
A collection of photos have been released for Netflix’s upcoming new fantasy series Shadow and Bone. These offer us our first look at the show, which is based on Leigh Bardugo’s fantasy trilogy Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows duology.
The show is being developed by Eric Heisserer, who wrote Netflix’s Bird Box, as well as Shawn Levy, the producer and director of Stranger Things. Heisserer will also serve as showrunner.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heisserer sahred: “These photos offer a glimpse into the expansive, textured world Leigh created in her books. We worked tirelessly to craft a lived-in feel for fictional lands like Ketterdam and Ravka, with invented languages, uniforms, currency, and artistic choices from set design to costuming. You’re immersed in the Grishaverse when you read, and it’s our hope that both new and existing fans have that same feeling when they watch the show.”
Bardugo, who is also an executive producer on the series, added: “Shadow and Bone takes place in a very different kind of fantasy world. Think Imperial Russia, not Medieval England, repeating rifles instead of broadswords. It’s a story about the people who have been told how much they don’t matter proving how much they do. And it’s been incredible to see that story take shape on such an epic scale, the battles, the magic, but also the relationships between the characters. These photos give just a tiny hint at what’s in store — a mapmaker with an extraordinary gift, the people who want to use her, the tracker who will do anything to protect her, and the team of thugs and thieves who are about to cause some very big trouble for everyone involved.”
The story for the series is set in a wartorn 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.
Shadow and Bone stars Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov, Archie Renaux as Malyen Oretsev, Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker, Amita Suman as Inej, Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, and Ben Barnes as General Kirigan.
The rest of the cast includes Sujaya Dasgupta as Zoya Nazyalensky, Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik, Daisy Head as Genya Safin, Simon Sears as Ivan, Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar, Zoë Wanamaker as Baghra, Kevin Eldon as The Apparat, Julian Kostov as Fedyor, Luke Pasqualino as David, Jasmine Blackborow as Marie, and Gabrielle Brooks as Nadia.
The series will premiere on Netflix on April 23rd, 2021.