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adapted from the shadow and bone and six of crows series by leigh bardugo, netflix's shadow and bone releases tomorrow, april 23. the show is of particular interest to me because of how near and dear its source material is to my heart. the six of crows series is what immersed me in young adult fantasy, spurring my interest in other popular series like the raven cycle.
in addition, as a fellow asian person, it is incredible to have jessie mei li cast as the show's protagonist, alina starkov. while alina is not the most nuanced or unique of ya protagonists, the popularity of the shadow and bone books is sure to increase media visibility for the asian community.
i am most excited for the crows themselves. i love what they've done with amita suman's costumes as inej with her elegant captain-dark academia-mafia aesthetic. i adore freddy carter's vibes as kaz brekker. the instant i saw him i knew the casting director had captured the sharpness kaz embodies with carter's casting. while he is not necessarily a "pretty boy," he has the angles kaz requires. as for kit young as jesper, i was hesitant at first, but with all the hype surrounding his portrayal, i am slowly warming up to him. and while i agree with the opinions that nina's actress should have been fatter, i am excited to see what danielle galligan and calahan skogman do with early helnik's dynamics.
however, what i am most intruged by is mal's rumored rebranding. multiple people involved in the show's production have asserted that mal will be loveable, pushing back against book mal's widely hated reputation. while there are a good number of malina shippers, the fandom's general consensus, at least prior to the show's release, was that mal was boring and horrible, and alina should have either pursued nikolai (he was the best choice, in my personal opinion) or the darkling.
mal's overcompensation, possessiveness, and objectifying tendencies rendered him less than a fan favorite. he only paid attention to her once she began climbing the royal ranks. he rejected her powers and sought to cull her confidence in order to boost his own flimsy self-esteem. however, i am a sucker for childhood friends to lovers when there's enough repression and tension, so if mal's character has been revamped to be less sexist and annoying, malina could be enjoyable.
i am most afraid for the darkling and his relationship with alina. he was extremely abusive and blatantly ignored consent in his interactions with her in text. i have heard that the show has tried to give alina more agency. what i fear is that making the darkling more sympathetic will only lead to people excusing his destructive behavior, simply because the widely beloved ben barnes plays him. however, here's to hoping he will be interesting but not woobified by the new fans the show brings in as he has been in the past by fans of the book.
overall, i'm very excited, very thrilled!
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