Netflix announces the cast of the new fantasy series, Shadow and Bone

Ben Barnes and Jessie Mei Li star in the Netflix original series Shadow and Bone. The new fantasy series is based on the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo.

Netflix just announced the cast of Shadow and Bone, a new original series based on the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo.

The streaming network shared the news, along with a picture of the cast, via the See What’s Next Twitter account.

Bardugo will be working with writer Eric Heisserer of Bird Box to adapt the Grishaverse novels into the new Netflix series, according to a report from Deadline.

Check out the tweet from Netflix announcing the cast of the series below!

In the series, Jessie Mei Li will be portraying Alina Starkov. Ben Barnes will be portraying General Kirigan, also known as The Darkling. General Kirigan is the commander of the military in Ravka, but he has many secrets.

Barnes is the most well-known member of the cast. Many Netflix subscribers will recognize him from Marvel’s The Punisher. 

According to the tweet from Netflix, Armita Suman also stars in the series as Inej, Freddy Carter will be portraying Kaz Brekker, while Archie Renaux stars as Malyen Oretsev, and Kit Young will play Jesper Fehey.

Here is the synopsis of the series, via Deadline:

"The story focuses on a young soldier who uncovers a power that might finally unite her country. But as she struggles to hone her power, dangerous forces plot against her. Thugs, thieves, assassins and saints are at all at war, and it will take more than magic to survive."

Netflix did not reveal the rest of the cast, but Deadline is reporting Sujaya Dasgupta, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, and Simon Sears will also be involved with the project. Expect those characters to be announced at a later date.

This will be interesting to see how Netflix tackles the job of combining all six of Bardugo’s novels into one series. Obviously, there’s the potential of this world expanding and introducing new characters and stories in the future. There’s simply too much to cover in one season, but it seems like there’s a chance this could be Netflix’s big fantasy play.

With an all-star cast signed on and Heisserer writing the series based on such great books, Netflix will definitely have another hit on their hands.

Unfortunately, no release date has been given yet. Shadow and Bone just started production, so the series will likely be released on the streaming service in 2020 or 2021. Stay tuned for more information about the new series!