Netflix has become a powerhouse in the world of buzzworthy dramas, with many of them combining fantasy elements and a young-adult bent with ease. Next year, fans will get to check out an ambitious new extension of that method, when the original series Shadow and Bone is released in April of 2021. The series, based on Leigh Bardugo’s “Grishaverse” of young-adult novels, has been highly anticipated amongst fans for quite some time — and now we have a look at what that will entail. On Thursday, Netflix released the first official trailer for the series, which provides a unique and ambient look inside its lush fantasy world.
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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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.
“We’ve taken the stories of Shadow and Bone and the characters of Six of Crows and we’ve brought them together in what I think will be a really unexpected way,” Bardugo said in a statement. “[Showrunner] Eric [Heisserer] and our writers’ room and our directors have built something entirely new that still somehow stays true to the characters and to the heart of the stories. And it wasn’t easy! Eric took two fantasy series — with powers and creatures and horrors and heists — and molded them into this cohesive, incredible thing. I don’t think I could’ve been more lucky in the person that we found to hand the keys over to. It wasn’t just the keys to a book or one series, it was a whole world I had been working on for the better part of my career. I didn’t do it lightly. I trusted him and I was right to trust him.”
“When they watch this show, audiences are going to encounter a world that feels fully realized — but that doesn’t feel like any place they’ve been before,” Bardugo continued. “When I was on set, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay in that world longer. This is a privilege that so few authors get, to see their worlds brought to life right in front of their eyes. When you start an endeavor like this, you don’t know what’s going to happen. To have your expectations surpassed, to see magic on top of magic, and to see things come to life in a way that is bigger and more beautiful than you ever could have hoped, it’s impossible to fathom.”
What do you think of the first trailer for Netflix’s Shadow and Bone series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Shadow and Bone is set to be released exclusively on Netflix in April of 2021.
