The popular five-book series by Leigh Bardugo served as the inspiration for Netflix’s YA fantasy series Shadow & Bone, which it announced last week was canceled. In addition to being sad that the program would not be able to complete the entire tale of the original trilogy, viewers were even more devastated to learn that the planned spinoff would not be developed as a result of the cancelation.
Amita Suman as the assassin, Jesper Fahey as the sharpshooter, Nina Zenik as the former spy, Freddy Carter as the mastermind, and Wylan Hendricks as the demolition expert comprised the gang known as Six of Crows, which was modeled after the first book in the duology of the same name. Additionally, Shadow showrunner Eric Heisserer released a sizzle video to highlight the content meant for Crows and support the program’s existence with Netflix, as neither show is moving forward. Produced in collaboration with producer Daegan Frykland and the editing team of the show, it is made up entirely of Crows-specific footage from Shadow & Bone, which features the crew forming plans, sharing personal anecdotes or sentiments, and engaging in other cool activities that initially sparked fans’ desire for a show centered around them.
Heisserer posted on Reddit, saying, “We were perplexed early in a post on season two as to why Netflix had not yet given SoC the greenlight for production.” The Shadow & Bone team called it a “clear decision.” The novel by Bardugo translated quite well into eight television episodes, so they had already completed the scripts. It would have been “the best season yet…with fantastic cliffhangers and character spotlights.” Despite the fact that Crows was ultimately not produced, he continued to express immense satisfaction with the actors.
Given the post-cancellation reprieves that Manifest, Warrior, and Warrior Nun (among many others) have received, it’s possible that we’ll ultimately learn of the news of a rebirth for Shadow & Bone, or perhaps even just a concentration on Six of Crows exclusively. Nothing is final until it is, even though networks and streamers are still canceling the series.
The Crows are currently available to stream on Netflix in the first two seasons of Shadow & Bone.
