‘Shadow and Bone’ Season 2: Release Date Cast and More Details

Last month, Netflix finally dropped a teaser for Shadow and Bone Season 2, and a hint that it will be released sometime in 2023. The series took the burgeoning fantasy TV genre by storm when it premiered last summer, but news on the second season has been slow and scarce. Below is a collection of all the updates we’ve gotten so far.

Fair warning: there are spoilers for Shadow and Bone ahead! This Netflix original series is an adaptation of author Leigh Bardugo’s novels in her fictional setting “the Grishaverse.” The world and its culture are inspired by Eastern European mythology and folklore, with the addition of magical powers that allow users (“Grisha”) to manipulate certain natural elements. Bardugo introduced this world in her Shadow and Bone trilogy, and has since written other series in the same setting. Netflix’s series mostly adapts that first trilogy, but combines some characters and elements from the Six of Crows novels as well.

The changes made in adapting the books into Season 1 make it a little bit harder to predict the content of future seasons and episodes. However, this may entice more fans to read the books while they wait for the next installment. You can buy all five books now in digital or audiobook formats if you want to get ahead. There are other “Grishaverse” books as well that have not made it to the screen — at least, not yet.

As much fun as the first season was, Shadow and Bone‘s best moments are all ahead of it. Fans have already theorized extensively about how the timeline will play out, and the cast has mentioned some of the upcoming events they are most eager to play out on screen. Here is everything we know so far about Shadow and Bone Season 2.

First Teaser

Netflix released an unexpected teaser for Shadow and Bone Season 2 on Saturday, Sept. 24 during a TUDUM virtual event. It’s only about a minute long, but it was the first glimpse fans got of the Grishaverse in months and it stirred up a lot of hype on social media. 

When Might Season 2 Premiere?

During Saturday’s TUDUM virtual event, Netflix announced that Shadow and Bone Season 2 would premiere sometime in 2023. While there were no more specific details than that, there are some hints that we can consider. On Twitter, showrunner Eric Heisserer wrote that he started working on the Shadow and Bone Season 2 scripts before the renewal was even official.

According to a report by The Wrap, the series filmed from January of 2022 to June of 2022. It will need several months for post-production — especially with all the special effects that need to be added in. That means we shouldn’t expect for it to be finished any earlier than October of 2022, but even then it is unlikely to air this year. Netflix still has The Witcher: Blood Origin coming up as well as The Witcher Season 3, so the company will probably want to space out its major fantasy releases for maximum impact.

Have There Been Set Photos?

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Earlier this year, Shadow and Bone star David Wurawa confirmed that Season 2 had begun filming in an Instagram Story post. Since then, fans have seen some other photos of the cast together on social media. Of course, it’s likely that these posts were arranged to disguise any spoilers or details.

What Will Season 2 Be About?

Shadow and Bone Season 1 essentially followed the storyline of the novel Shadow and Bone, with some new elements thrown in to include the characters from the Six of Crows duology. Presumably, Season 2 would work mostly with content from Siege and Storm, the second novel in the trilogy. Assuming it follows the book pretty closely, that means that Alina and her friends will quickly learn that Kirigan was not killed in the Shadow Fold, and that he is pursuing her with new and mysterious powers.

It’s less clear if the next season would delve into the events of Six of Crows. So far, the show has depicted the relationship between Nina Zenik and Matthias Helvar, which was only described in flashbacks in the books, but it has not touched the novel’s main events yet. The casting news is our best hint about what else will be added in so far.

New Cast Members

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Netflix has announced several new Shadow and Bone cast members for Season 2, which is exciting for book fans as they finally get to put faces to names. The newcomers include Patrick Gibson as Nikolai Lantsov, Jack Wolfe as Wylan Hendriks, Anna Leong Brophy as Tamar Kir-Bataar and Lewis Tan as Tolya Yul-Bataar. Six of Crows fans are already hard at work creating fan art of Wolf, Brophy and Tan in character, while Gibson’s character comes more from the Shadow and Bone trilogy as well as later spinoffs that aren’t included in this show yet.

In the new season several key characters have also been promoted from recurring stars to series regulars. That includes Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik, Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar and Daisy Head as Genya Safin. Fans were particularly excited to see more of Head, as some felt that Genya’s role was downplayed in Season 1.

Which Characters Will Return?

Shadow and Bone Season 1 did a great job of making the Grishaverse seem real and expansive, and fans might be surprised at how many side characters have big roles to play going forward. Those who haven’t read the books will want to keep an eye on the Squaller Zoya, and the Materialki David as well. They may also want to keep in mind the ominous performance of Dean Lennox Kelly as Pekka Rollins.

Renewal

Netflix officially renewed Shadow and Bone as a part of its Geeked Week event in June of 2021. The renewal was expected, but it still had fans breathing a sigh of relief.

Will There Be a ‘Six of Crows’ Spinoff?

Now that Kaz Brekker and his crew have been introduced in this original tie-in story, fans are clamoring to see their book adventure get the on-screen treatment. Some want to see them get their own spinoff show, and Bardugo herself touted the idea in an interview with Elle.

“I think we’re all forming a giant prayer circle,” the author said. “It really just depends on how audiences respond. Fantasy is expensive.” On the other hand, showrunner Eric Heisserer told the outlet: “I think at least part of next season should be a home game for our team,” meaning that the Crows would be back on their home turf in Ketterdam. If that’s the case, there might be more original stories coming their way.

Will There Be a ‘King of Scars’ Spinoff?

Since completing the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, Bardugo has written two more novels in the Grishaverse — King of Scars and Rule of Wolves. These follow Nikolai Lantsov, a character that hasn’t even been introduced in the show yet on adventures that come much farther down the timeline, but Bardugo told Elle that she is still hopeful the TV show will get to that point — either in the main series or in a spinoff.

“I want to see the whole story, and I know that’s crazy. I know it’s unlikely,” she said. “And I don’t think it would take seven seasons to get us through seven books. I would love to see the whole story unspool. I think that would be something special.”

“Nikolai Lantsov is probably one of my all-time favorite characters to write, enough so that I gave him his own duology,” she continued. “I think he would be hell to cast, but I would absolutely love to see him brought to the screen. He is kind of a character, and I think he would be a lot of fun.”

Heisserer echoed this hope in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, pointing out that Netflix agreed to secure the rights to one of Bardugo’s short story collections set in the Grishaverse. This seems like a good sign that the streaming service would seek a big payout on its investment.

‘A Dare’

If you’ve finished Shadow and Bone Season 1, you know that the series ends on a surprising cliffhanger for a show that was guaranteed another season. Heisserer told Variety this week that this was by design. With a laugh, he said: “It was me daring Netflix not to renew us.”

Shadow and Bone Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix. The books it is based on are in print, digital and audiobook formats wherever books are sold.