Good news, fans of Shadow and Bone (or fans of the Darkling specifically, I guess). Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse fantasy novels is about start production on season two, which will cover the second book in the series, Siege and Storm. Unsurprisingly, the book has new characters that need actors to play them, but now we know who some of them are.
Netflix has just announced the four newest cast members of the series:
• Patrick Gibson (The OA) will play Nikolai Lantsov, a.k.a. Sturmhond. He’s the captain of his own fleet of pirate ships, which he uses to aid the Rivkan war effort as a privateer. However, he’s hiding an enormous secret.
• Anna Leong Brophy (Traces) will play Tamar Kir-Bataar, a Heartrender and a member of Sturmhond’s crew. She befriends Alina while they sail together.
• Lewis Tan (Mortal Kombat) has been cast as Tolya Yul-Bataar, Tamar’s twin brother. Like his sister, he’s a Heartrender and a member of Sturnhond’s crew. He’s also a big fan of epic poetry.
• Jack Wolfe (The Witcher) will play Wylan Hendricks, a new member of the group of thieves known as the Crows. He’s the team’s demolitions expert, and like so many of the others, has a tragic past.
Additionally, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, and Calahan Skogman have been promoted to series regulars as Nina Zenik, Genya Safin, and Matthias Helvar, respectively.
When season one ended, Alina (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal (Archie Renaux) had headed off in hopes of helping Alina master her Sun Summoner powers, while Kirigin (a.k.a. the Darkling, played by Ben Barnes) had emerged from the Fold, a strip of land covered in deadly darkness that has divided the nation of Rivka in half. Suffice it to say, Kirigin has no plans on letting Alina escape his grasp a second time.
Since Shadow and Bone’s second season hasn’t started production yet, there’s of course no word when it might be out–we’ll bring you more on the season as and when we learn it.