Shadow and Bone on Netflix: Release date, score, and more from NYCC Metaverse

Shadow and Bone on Netflix: What we know after NYCC’s Metaverse panel

Shadow and Bone Season 1, the Netflix adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, may not quite be ready for us to watch yet. But that doesn’t mean fans of the fantasy novels aren’t starving for every little detail we can get about the upcoming series.

As part of New York Comic Con and MCM Comic Con’s Metaverse, an online replacement for the events that would normally be taking place around this time of year, Bardugo and showrunner Eric Heisserer participated in a panel.

Shadow and Bone Season 1 will combine different sides of the Grishaverse—the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology—and that definitely has a lot of readers concerned. But fear not! Ravka and Kerch are in excellent hands with Heisserer, who “did a really good job” putting the two different stories together, according to Leigh Bardugo herself.

What is the Shadow and Bone release date?

Ever since the news dropped that Shadow and Bone would be coming to Netflix, readers have been dying to know when we can see the Grishaverse come to life. Unfortunately, the NYCC Metaverse panel didn’t give us a firm date.

Update: The new season is coming sometime in April 2021. 

Update (Jan. 27, 2021): The official release date is April, 23, 2021.

Thanks to Leigh Bardugo’s social media, we know the series wrapped in late February 2020. But since the series will be very heavy on visual effects, the finishing touches are going to take time. Think of it as spending years studying the Small Science before becoming a Grisha, if you will.

Where is the Shadow and Bone trailer?

Sorry, gang. Unless you can convince the Dregs to steal it from Netflix, you won’t be able to watch the Shadow and Bone trailer yet. Even then, you’d probably need some help from the Second Army.

Feb. 26 UPDATE: We have a trailer!

Also, what we can give you: Leigh Bardugo was very excited to reveal the Grisha theme created by Joseph Trapanese, which should definitely get you in the mood to put on your kefta. But don’t take our word for it. Listen to the clip at about the 20-minute mark on the full NYCC Metaverse panel video below.

If just the music is this good, we can’t begin to fathom how awesome the show itself will be!

Shadow and Bone cast and crew

We learned about the casting for most of the Grishaverse’s key players by late 2019. But the NYCC Metaverse gave us more details.

Jessie Mei Li was so good in her audition to play Alina Starkov, Bardugo was hooked enough to text Heisserer something along the lines of, “if it’s not Jessie, I’m done.”

You can’t talk about Alina without mentioning the Darkling. Teen actors who auditioned for the role were too similar to Joffrey Baratheon, and anyone who knows anything about the Grishaverse knows that’s not right for the character.

Despite auditioning to play the villain, Ben Barnes saved the day:

"I think we got very in lucky in that Ben brings this tremendous…He’s very sexy, very handsome—but you believe him. You believe him as a military leader; you believe him as somebody who has endured a lot over the course of time. And I think he brought this tremendous sympathy to the role that I think is really important."

Leigh Bardugo also noted that her “brain sort of short-circuited” seeing Zoë Wanamaker, who plays Bhagra, with Barnes. In the books, the character is a big part of teaching Alina Starkov everything she needs to know…

…but that’s all we’ll say about that for those of you who haven’t yet read the Shadow and Bone trilogy.

From the crew side of things, Eric Heisserer discussed how perfect Jesper’s (Kit Young) guns were, which he credited at least in part to how many “members of the art department were infatuated with Leigh’s books.” Shadow and Bone viewers should also be on the lookout for a prop carried by Freddy Carter, who plays Kaz Brekker. Leigh Bardugo said seeing Kaz’s cane was “a pretty big deal” for her, especially since when she wrote it into the series, she was “coming to terms with” needing one for herself.

What else do we know about Shadow and Bone on Netflix?

This series has a lot of promise as a faithful book adaptation, both because of Heisserer’s respect for the material and because of all the little details that have gone into it. As far as particular plot points go, we’ll have to wait until we can watch Shadow and Bone on Netflix.

What we do know is there’s a cameo that Leigh Bardugo is really excited about—one that she says is even better than her own. The author also promised big things for the seventh episode:

"Episode 7 was the one for me that was like…like, I…It was—it was so purely what I had in my head and my heart that it was pretty extraordinary to see it."

So, whether you’re dying to see the battle for Ravka or simply want to visit the underbelly of Kerch (waffles included), you’re likely to have a good time with Netflix’s Shadow and Bone. All signs say it will be worth the wait.

Besides, it’s not exactly like members of the visual effects department can practice the Small Science…or can they?

Stay tuned for more Shadow and Bone news!