Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer admits he wasn't going to do the show without the Six of Crows characters. Netflix's latest breakout hit premiered at the end of April and has largely remained in the streamer's daily top 10 list since. Based on bestselling author Leigh Bardugo's fantastical Grishaverse, Shadow and Bone follows orphan Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) as she joins up with her country's army with an eye on combating the mysterious Shadow Fold, a swath of darkness cutting the land in two. Along the way, Alina discovers the rare power she holds within her, which could be the key to saving her world.
Shadow and Bone season 1 is largely based on Bardugo's first Grishaverse novel of the same name, but it holds several departures from it. Most notably, it includes characters from Bardugo's Six of Crows duology, which is set years after Shadow and Bone. Fan favorites like Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) have been brought into Alina's story, making for some twists that even fans of the books didn't see coming.
Heisserer, who is also known for his work on projects like Arrival and Bird Box, reflected on his Shadow and Bone journey with Variety. When it came to actually developing the series, Heisserer had one stipulation: He had to have access to the Six of Crows characters. He said, "I told them at the time, ‘I’m not going to touch this series unless I also have the “Six of Crows” duology and have those characters. I don’t see a show without both.'" This almost didn't work for Netflix. "They said, ‘Well, we don’t have rights to that.’ And I said, ‘Well OK, good luck,'" Heisserer recalled. Luckily, however, the streamer later obtained the rights to Six of Crows, as well as its sequel Crooked Kingdom and the Grishaverse short stories The Language of Thorns.
The decision to combine the Shadow and Bone trilogy with Six of Crows was initially met with some apprehension from fans, but the positive response to the show indicates everything worked out perfectly. Part of the magic of Bardugo's world is that Alina can be referenced by someone like Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) years later; by actually combining the characters onscreen, Heisserer has managed to bring that magic to a whole new level.
Should Shadow and Bone get renewed for season 2, it's certain the show will push further into the Six of Crows narrative. The final missing Crow, Wylan Van Eck, has already been teased for season 2, and there is still much left to explore of the other characters' stories. Even beyond Six of Crows, Bardugo has a second Grishaverse duology in King of Scars, which could lay the groundwork for future seasons. Granted, Netflix has yet to gift Shadow and Bone with more episodes, but it seems likely that it will. Plus, Heisserer has a lot of affection for the Six of Crows crew (having been a fan beforehand), so he already has much planned for the future. Here's hoping it eventually comes to pass.
Source: Variety