Surprise WizKids Figure Could Tease Next Dungeons & Dragons Adventure

An upcoming WizKids figure could tease Dungeons & Dragons' next adventure. WizKids has announced a new addition to its ever-growing Icons of the Realm line of premium Dungeons & Dragons figures. The company will release an Adult Blue Shadow Dragon figure in December 2022, with a malevolent blue dragon exuding umbral energy. You can check out an image of the new Adult Blue Shadow Dragon down below. 

While WizKids typically releases miniatures based off of official Dungeons & Dragons artwork, an Adult Blue Shadow Dragon has yet to appear in any adventure or rulebook. Although last year's Fizban's Treasury of Dragons and the Monster Manual both contain rules for converting an existing dragon statblock into a Shadow Dragon, we've yet to see any sort of official artwork of an Adult Blue Shadow Dragon appear within any official sourcebook.

There's a few explanation for this new seemingly random figure. The most obvious explanation is that WizKids is continuing its aggressive expansion of its Icons of the Realm line, which has grown to include key NPCs from adventures published years ago, along with a complete line of adult chromatic, metallic, and gem dragons and other massive monsters. The Dungeons & Dragons line is clearly successful for WizKids and it's not exactly a surprise that WizKids wants to keep it growing with new major releases. 

However – there is another intriguing possibility. In December 2021, WizKids released its line of figures for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, the official 2021 campaign-length adventure book. Based on the timing of last year's WizKids releases, it's possible that this Adult Blue Shadow Dragon could be tied to an unannounced Dungeons & Dragons adventure book linked to the Shadowfell. 

Although Wizards of the Coast has announced plans for a Spelljammer boxed set and a Dragonlance campaign book later this year, it hasn't said if it plans to release its traditional fall adventure book or if Spelljammer and Dragonlance will replace that annual release. Assuming that Wizards of the Coast will still release its annual adventure, the Shadowfell seems like a good place to explore given that it's one of the few major planes not explored in 5E adventures. The Shadowfell was given a major focus in 4E, but it has yet to really be mentioned or explored deeply in recent years. Similar to how the Feywild received a reboot of sorts in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, it could be that Wizards of the Coast is preparing to explore the Shadowfell once again via a campaign-length adventure book later this year. 

This is all speculation, of course. We'll have to see if any other curious Shadowfell-linked hints get dropped by Wizards of the Coast or its partners in the coming weeks and months.