Netflix Announces Extended Shadow and Bone Teaser Announces Release Date

Netflix has unexpectedly dropped an extensive preview for the upcoming fantasy series Shadow and leg during a panel at IGN Fan Fest. The highly anticipated series is adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s best-selling “Grishaverse” novels and will premiere on April 23.

(Light spoilers for the books below.)

Bardugo published Shadow and leg, the first of a trilogy, in June 2012, followed by Siege and Storm in 2013 and Ruin and Rising in 2014. She told Entertainment Weekly in 2012 that she had deliberately avoided the usual medieval fantasy motifs and rather drew inspiration from the Russian Empire in the early 1800s. “As much as I like broad words and flagons of ale – and believe me that too – I want to take readers a little differently,” she said. “Tsarist Russia has given me another starting point.”

Inspiration for the looming Shadow Fold – the trilogy’s Big Bad – comes from her decision not to treat “darkness” metaphorically, but literally. “What if the darkness was a place?” she said. “Suppose the monsters hiding there were real and more horrible than anything you had ever imagined under your bed or behind the cupboard door? What if you had to fight them on their own territory, blind and helpless in the dark? These ideas would eventually became the Shadow Fold. ‘

In Shadow and leg, the teenage orphan Alina Starkov of the Kingdom of Ravka is sent on an expedition across the Unsea (also known as the fold) to bring back provision for her wealthy patron. Her best friend, Malyen “Mal” Oretsev, is also on the expedition. When monsters attack the Unsea (called volcra), Alina saves the day thanks to previously unexpected “Grisha” forces – people who can manipulate the elements as weapons. It attracts the attention of Grisha leader The Darkling, who brings her to the city of Os Alta, where she begins to train with other Grisha to control her powers. But her tutor, Baghra, warns Alina that The Darkling cannot be trusted, and many disturbing adventures follow.

In 2015, Bardugo published Six crows, followed by a sequel, Crooked Kingdom, the following year. The Hollywood Reporter described the duology as a mixture of Ocean’s 11 and Game of Thrones. These books take place in the 17th century equivalent of the Dutch Republic. Teenaged Kaz Brekker, or “Dirthyhands”, is a thief in the town of Ketterdam, who is appointed a scientist from a fortress, the Ice Ice Court, He recruits members of his street gang, the Dregs, to assist him, given the difficulty of the heist, and once again many disturbing adventures follow.

It is understood that the Netflix processing will be the events of the Shadow and leg trilogy and serves as a prelude to the Six crows duology. Eric Heisserer (Arrival) heads the project as creator and showrunner, and language expert (‘conlanger’) David J. Peterson (Game of Thrones, Doctor Strange, Thor: The Dark World) and Christian Thalmann, who helped Bardugo develop the fictional languages ​​for her Grishaverse novels, will consult on the series. Bardugo is itself an executive manufacturer. According to the official premise:

Shadow and leg we find ourselves in a war-torn world where humble soldier and orphan Alina Starkov has just unleashed an extraordinary force that could be the key to liberating her country. 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 the same and that nothing in this lavish world looks the way it does. There are dangerous forces at work, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.

Jessie Mei Li (Last night in Soho) stars Alina Starkov, Ben Barnes (Westworld, The Punisher) plays General Kirigan, aka The Darkling, Archie Renaux (Hanna, The Gold Digger) plays Mal, and Zoe Wanamaker (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) plays Baghra, Alina’s tutor and mother of The Darkling. There are also several characters from Six crows who will appear in this first season: master thief Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter, Pennyworth); acrobat and knife expert Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman, Doctor was, The outpost); sniper Jesper Fahey (Kit Young, Try), former brothel worker and “Heartrender” Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan, Game of Thrones), and former witch veil Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman). Two main characters from the Six crows duology does not appear in this first season: Nikolai Lantsov and Wylan Van Eck, a son of a trader and demolition expert.

Shadow and leg premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2021.

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