Is 'Six of Crows' Happening? 'Shadow and Bone' Cast Share Hopes for Spinoff

Fans of Netflix's Shadow and Bone have been waiting with bated breath for the show to adapt Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows duology, and so too has the cast.

Showrunner Eric Heisserer previously shared with Newsweek that the plan is to make a standalone series based on the books, and actors Danielle Galligan, Freddy Carter and Amita Suman told Newsweek about what they'd like to see happen with the characters.

Six of Crows follows its titular crew Kaz Brekker (Carter), Inej Ghafa (Suman), Nina Zenik (Galligan), Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman), Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), and Wylan Van Eck (Jack Wolfe) as they embark on a heist at Fjerda's Ice Court to retrieve a scientist who has created a dangerous drug known as Jurda Parem.

Galligan joked that the storyline has been "a very distant carrot dangled for us since the beginning" as Shadow and Bone set the stage for the spinoff by exploring the backstories of the beloved characters in Season 1 and 2.

Is 'Six of Crows' Happening? 'Shadow and Bone' Cast Share Hopes for Spinoff

Galligan shared that the cast members who portray the Crows in Shadow and Bone have been eagerly waiting to adapt the books, even if elements of both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom have featured in the flagship series.

"Six of Crows was the first book that I read," the actor shared. "It was where I fell in love with Nina and all the characters so, of course, we've been waiting and holding out for a long, long time to try.

"Hopefully if Season 2 [of Shadow and Bone] goes down, we'll be able to start digging into that storyline. It's always felt like the end goal for all of us, we would love to be able to do it."

All three actors have aspects of the story that they wish to explore the most in the standalone series, which is in development but will only be greenlit if Shadow and Bone Season 2 performs well on Netflix.

Amita Suman Wants to Explore Inej's Family Life

Shadow and Bone's second season ends with Inej leaving the Crows in order to look for her brother, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The storyline marked a change from the books, as Inej only starts her quest to find her sibling at the end of Crooked Kingdom, but for Suman it felt right.

"When I was reading it the first time I was shocked as well, but at the same time I was also in a weird sense relieved from a character's perspective, just because she's finally looking for her brother," she explained. "And it just naturally came to that point as well, because [...] she's managed to gain freedom, she's managed to get the money that she needs to go look, and what shocked me even more was the fact that Kaz has been looking for her family as well.

"I think in the last line, 'and how will we have me?' that was the last time that she had any hope left, and that was the moment where all of that hope dissipated. There's a famous quote in the books where Leigh Bardugo says 'it's time to put an end to something that never had a beginning' with the story of Kaz and Inej.

"Obviously these two people have so much chemistry and so much want to be together, but it's just perhaps not the right time yet, but what if the right time is finally for her to go and look for her brother and her family?"

Suman went on: "Now that she has the means and the capability, and now that she's become a dangerous person, she has all of the tools so she's lost hope in [one] sense but then has regained this exhilarating, mighty purpose to finally do what she lost when she was kidnapped."

Given Inej is already looking for her brother, Suman shared how she'd "definitely" love to see the sibling appear in the franchise in some aspect.

"Of course I want him to appear. I think Inej is all about family, it's the reason why she still has the necklace, she's still holding onto that glimmer of hope to one day see her family again," the Sandman star explained.

"I, myself, have a little brother in real life he's my absolute baby, I love him so much and I spent many, many, many years of my life away from him so I know that feeling of families reuniting again after so many years, and I think it would just be a really emotional, beautiful thing to play."

Suman reflected on how other characters have had their past revealed to viewers in the flagship show, and added: "I haven't had the same luxury of Inej's backstory yet, and I think they're saving that [...] and I'm really, really glad that they are.

"I know the payoff for this, if it does happen, is gonna be absolutely an emotional wreck but in the most beautiful, exciting and exhilarating way."

Danielle Galligan's Hopes for Nina's Future

Galligan is keen to dig into many aspects of Nina's journey from the books, such as exploring her relationship with Matthias after his time in Hellgate, but particularly the way in which the drug Jurda Parem has impacted her life.

While not giving too much away about the book's plot, the actress shared her thoughts on the way Nina is able to use the drug against certain enemies like Jarl Brum, the commander of the Drüskelle and Matthias' former mentor.

"I've always said if there was the moment from Six of Crows it'd obviously be the Jurda Parem moment, I would love to act that," she teased. "I think that would just be amazing, and not because of her power and her fierceness, [but] because of her restraint in the moment.

"A lot of her friends and family has been murdered by Drüskelle and so in that moment she has them all in the palm of her hand, she could literally just wipe them out, and Jarl Brum especially."

"In the series, obviously, there's a theme of monsters and everyone has their own monster, and the Drüskelle or Jarl Brum are the physical manifestation of hers," she went on.

"I think that through it all, and through everything that she's just been through and what he's done to her, still she doesn't [kill them], she never betrays herself too much, and she just can't because ultimately Nina loves people, she loves humans, she loves connection and she does believe in a greater good.

"And after Season 1, her journey with Matthias, she's learned so much about [the Drüskelle] as humans but she makes them fold and she doesn't kill them. I think that I'm interested in that moment, that restraint, it just seems like the kind of summation of all the stuff that Matthias has taught her in that moment, and that's real growth as a human, or as a Grisha."

What Freddy Carter Is Most Excited To See in 'Six of Crows'

Carter's character Kaz has had his backstory largely depicted on screen. Season 2 explored the origins of his ruthlessness and why he has been so keen to get revenge on Ketterdam criminal Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly).

But the actor still has a number of things he'd like to see come to life in a Six of Crows standalone series.

"I'd be absolutely delighted to work with these people in any form again. I have had so much fun making Shadow and Bone and I would definitely have a lot of fun making a Six of Crows standalone spinoff," Carter told Newsweek.

"I personally think that Ice Court heist and the Six of Crows duology, Crooked Kingdom story, deserve more elbow room for those characters. They need a bit more space to breathe, so I understand why Eric wants to do it as a standalone, and I would absolutely welcome that opportunity.

"I'd love to do it that way, I feel like the fans, myself included, have been really looking forward to seeing the Six of Crows storyline come to life. It's just so, so cinematic, that storyline."

"It would be heartbreaking to get this close and then not get to see all six of them together," he added.

"I think the Ice Court heist is so brilliant, I would love to do that with the guys and I think [...] there's so much from the Six of Crows duology that lends itself to screen.

"And with the groundwork that Eric and the writers have put in, and [the way they] set it up at the end of Season 2, I'm raring to go and to get on with that storyline."

Shadow and Bone Season 2 is out on Netflix now.