Are you ready for the next big fantasy hit (probably)? Then prepare to enter the Grishaverse, the series of bestselling novels by Leigh Bardugo, which are coming to the small screen in Netflix’s new epic fantasy series Shadow and Bone. Watch the official Shadow and Bone trailer below.

Shadow and Bone Trailer

Fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels have long been demanding an adaptation of its complicated, dark world filled with political schemes and dangerous wars. And Netflix looks like it will be delivering with Shadow and Bone, an ambitious fantasy series written, executive produced, and showrun by Eric Heisserer, who wrote the Oscar-winning Arrival as well as a previous Netflix mega-hit, Bird Box.

I can’t say I have any idea about what’s going on in this trailer, but it sets up a compelling premise: a lowly orphan named Alina Starkoy (Jessie Mei Lin) discovers that she has extraordinary powers to manipulate light, which earns her the attention of the similarly powered General Kirigan (an ultra-seductive Ben Barnes) as well as scores of others who see her as the key to power. Training sequences and great battles ensue, as does a fair amount of espionage and palace intrigue. The dresses look great, the world-building looks rich, and Grisahverse fans seem happy. But can Shadow and Bone become a crossover fantasy hit for Netflix like The Witcher? We’ll have to see.

Shadow and Bone also stars Archie Renaux (Malyen Oretsev), Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker), Amita Suman (Inej), Kit Young (Jesper Fahey), Sujaya Dasgupta (Zoya Nazyalensky), Danielle Galligan (Nina Zenik), Daisy Head (Genya Safin), Simon Sears (Ivan), Calahan Skogman (Matthias Helvar), Zoë Wanamaker (Baghra), Kevin Eldon (The Apparat), Julian Kostov (Fedyor), Luke Pasqualino (David), Jasmine Blackborow (Marie), and Gabrielle Brooks (Nadia).

Here is the synopsis for Shadow and Bone:

Based on Leigh Bardugo’s worldwide bestselling Grishaverse novels, 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.

Shadow and Bone is set to premiere on Netflix on April 23, 2021.

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