Shadow & Bone Showrunner Reveals the Six of Crows Show That Could’ve Been

Last week, Netflix announced it’d pulled the plug on Shadow & Bone, the YA fantasy show based on Leigh Bardugo’s popular five-book series. Much as fans mourned the show for being unable to tell the full story of the main trilogy, they were also just as devastated (if not more so) to realize this cancellation meant its intended spinoff also wouldn’t see the light of day.

Known as Six of Crows and named after the first book in the titular duology, the intended series would’ve focused on the gang of the same name consisting of mastermind Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), assassin Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), sharpshooter Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), ex-spy Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan), and demolitions expert Wylan Hendricks (Jack Wolfe). And since neither show is going forward, Shadow showrunner Eric Heisserer put out a sizzle reel on to show off what was intended for Crows and help justify its existence to Netflix. Made with producer Daegan Frykland and the show’s editing team, it consists entirely of the Crows-specific footage from Shadow & Bone, showing the crew getting making plans, letting out their feelings or personal backstories, and doing the cool stuff that made fans want a show focused on them in the first place.

“Early in post on season two, we were confounded why Netflix had not yet given SoC the greenlight for production,” Heisserer explained on Reddit, calling it a “clear decision” from the Shadow & Bone team’s perspective. They’d already written scripts, and because Bardugo’s novel translated fairly well into eight episodes of television, it would’ve been “the best season yet…with fantastic cliffhangers and character spotlights.” Even though Crows didn’t end up getting made, he still professed great pride in the actors.

Given how Manifest, Warrior, and Warrior Nun (and plenty more) have all gotten post-cancellation reprieves, it may be that eventually, we hear news of a revival for Shadow & Bone, or possibly even just focusing on Six of Crows entirely. Even as streamers and networks are continuing to gut shows, nothing’s set in stone until it is.

In the meantime, the Crows can be seen in the two seasons of Shadow & Bone over on Netflix.

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