Netflix’s Shadow and Bone show brings the “Grishaverse” from Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling young adult novels to life, combining her Shadow and Bone trilogy with her Six of Crows duology to deliver a sprawling fantasy epic with a large cast of characters. Since the series only covers the first book of the trilogy — and serves as a prequel of sorts to the Six of Crows novels — it doesn’t introduce every personality from Bardugo’s world. However, should the show receive a second season order (just green light it already, Netflix!), showrunner Eric Heisserer has confirmed a key Six of Crows character will make an appearance: Wylan Van Eck.
Wylan is one of the six characters to partake in the Ice Court heist that makes up the plot of Six of Crows, alongside Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Nina Zenik and Matthias Helvar. All of the others were introduced during Shadow and Bone‘s first season, but as Wylan isn’t a product of the Barrel and has no ties to the Grisha or the Second Army, it’s easy to see why he was excluded.
With the Crows on their way back to Ketterdam, however, it seems like they’re done crossing over into Alina Starkov’s story, at least for the time being. And if Heisserer’s comments to Collider are anything to judge by, fans can expect their season 2 storyline to look much more like their book plot:
"I would love to talk about what we might get to see from Six of Crows in the second season. I can tease this much that there will be a hundred percent more Wylan. We’d like to introduce him for sure. And we would like to spend at least a little bit more time in Ketterdam. We kind of had to yoink our Crows away from that in Season 1 and throw them toward the Fold and beyond for their heist. And I think at least part of next season should be a home game for our team."
What to expect from Shadow and Bone season 2 and beyond
In addition to bringing Wylan into the fold (no, not that Fold), Heisserer has plenty of thoughts on where future seasons of the series could go. Despite having recently mentioned a three-season plan for the Netflix series, Heisserer told Collider the show’s lifespan could be even longer:
"I can tell you with not an insignificant amount of embarrassment that I don’t remember how or why I said I had a three-season plan. I had been up for 30 hours straight at that point when I sat down with Steve and the other reporters [for that set visit interview]. And so I certainly had my own monkey language going on in my brain. There’s a lot for us to cover, of course. It can be far more than three seasons because Leigh’s just written so many books and there’s a lot of ground for us to cover."
Since Netflix hasn’t renewed Shadow and Bone just yet, it may be too soon for fans to start speculating about seeing Bardugo’s King of Scars duology brought to life. However, Heisserer’s words are promising for those who would love to see the Grishaverse become the next extended television universe.
Apart from Wylan’s television entrance, the showrunner didn’t reveal specific details about his plans for Shadow and Bone‘s future, although he did promise something that will excite all the shippers out there: more kissing!
“Well, the good news is I have plenty of plans for so much more kissing if we go forward in the future with the exception of Kaz and Inej, which, that’s verboten. But I will say that several key relationships in this are a bit of a slow burn and you want to honor that.”
With more romance to look forward to, we’ll be waiting eagerly for Netflix to announce a second season. Until then, the first season of Shadow and Bone is currently streaming.
“To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels“