Who Is Wylan Van Eck? Shadow And Bone Season 2’s New Star, Explained

Netflix missed a golden opportunity today. They could have announced the casting for the character of Wylan Van Eck in their adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow And Bone while Wylan’s name was one of the top five trends on Twitter; but they didn’t, which is really a shame. However, I intend to use this moment to my advantage, to churn out a breakdown of the character’s backstory for everyone who saw the name trending earlier and was left perplexed about who Wylan is, and why fans of Bardugo’s fantasy novels are so obsessed with him. I’m gonna try to do this without spoiling anything too major about Wylan for the general audience, because I don’t imagine many fans who have read the Six Of Crows duology will need a refresher on a character who ranks among other Grishaverse fan-favorites like Nikolai Lantsov and Genya Safin.

Wylan Van Eck
Wylan Van Eck, art by Kevin Wada | lgbtqia-characters.fandom.com

Wylan Van Eck is introduced in Six Of Crows, Bardugo’s fourth fantasy novel set in the fictional world of the Grishaverse, and the book which kicks off her widely-loved and critically-acclaimed Six Of Crows duology. But while Netflix’s Shadow And Bone pulls inspiration, elements, and characters, from the duology in its adaptation of Bardugo’s earlier Grisha trilogy, Wylan was conspicuously absent from the show’s first season. Luckily, he is “a hundred percent” going to appear in season two, according to Shadow And Bone‘s showrunner, and fans are eager to find out who will be playing him in live-action, completing the line-up of “crows” currently comprised of Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Danielle Galligan, and Calahan Skogman.

Wylan is the only one of the book’s six protagonists who was presumably both born and raised in the city of Ketterdam, although his experiences with the city were pleasant enough at first: he was not hardened from an early age by the rough-and-tumble environment of Ketterdam’s notoriously seedy Barrel district, but was instead brought up amongst the stately mansions of the city’s Financial District, where he lived with his father and young stepmother, attending lavish parties in foreign lands and receiving a classical education until an…unfortunate incident, which takes place several months before the events of the book and leaves Wylan homeless and on the run in the midst of the Barrel, surrounded by people who want him dead.

To survive, Wylan assumes a false name and puts his skill with chemistry to good use, creating explosive devices for Ketterdam’s rival street gangs. He declares himself a “demolitions expert” because of this, although Kaz remarks that he is only “passable” at demo. He becomes involved in the plot of Six Of Crows unintentionally, when Kaz takes a dangerous but highly profitable job from Wylan’s father, the wealthy merchant Jan Van Eck, and decides to use Wylan as leverage over Van Eck to make sure he gets his money when all is said and done. Kaz, of course, was not long deterred by Wylan’s little business with the false name, and had come to the conclusion before any of his fellow gang-members that the young boy was none other than Van Eck’s son – and the heir to the old man’s vast trading empire.

Wylan initially comes across as a bit of a pampered character, no thanks to his angelic, even cherub-like appearance, and holier-than-thou indignation at the other Crows’ violent deeds. He shares very few details about his past, or about what drove him to seek a life of crime in the Barrel even though he comes from a background of such privilege and prestige, even though his father continues to send letters to the boarding house where Wylan went missing, asking him to come home. But he earns his keep on the crew, thanks to his resourceful attitude and first-hand knowledge of the Fjerdan Ice Court – the heavily-fortified palace and prison which the Crows must infiltrate to free a Shu scientist by the name of Bo Yul-Bayur, whose skills are coveted by Ketterdam’s Merchant Council.

Wylan Van Eck
Jesper Fahey | digitalspy.com

Along the way, the shy and introspective baby gay cinnamon-roll-who-could-actually-kill-you Wylan becomes close with the charismatic bisexual sharpshooter Jesper Fahey – and as their relationship grows more intimate with each trial they face, they open up to each other more. The dynamic between them is truly heartwarming, because of how Wylan’s desire to be accepted by the other Crows pushes him to become more violent, and how Jesper instinctively reacts by trying to protect Wylan from his darkest impulses. Jesper is capable of doing some pretty terrible things on his own, but he’s a good person at heart, and he genuinely wants to help Wylan become a better person than he believes he could ever be. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Just kidding, I am definitely crying. Their ship name is “Wesper”, and I can’t wait to see how Netflix builds this relationship from the ground up.

There’s been some doubt as to whether Shadow And Bone season two will adapt the events of Six Of Crows, since the first season left off roughly around the same point where the book begins, but this is one area where you can see the potential upside of holding off on that for another season or two: giving Wylan and Jesper a little more time to get to know each other, to start off as rivals but slowly begin to begrudgingly admire each other’s talents. The obvious drawback is that the mysteries regarding Wylan’s backstory might be much harder to maintain, even for general audiences. But seeing that backstory played out in real-time could be more compelling than trying to preserve surprises in the books which can easily be spoiled for anyone at this point, thanks to Google.

As for how Wylan will change from book to screen, I think there’s no doubt he’ll be aged up significantly – and for hardcore Wylan fans, that will probably be the biggest shock. In the books, he’s sixteen when we first meet him, but pretty much everyone else in the Grishaverse takes one look at him and mistakes him for a twelve-year old: like, to the point where I thought he was a twelve-year old the first time I read Six Of Crows. He’s memorably described by Kaz as resembling “a silk-eared puppy”, something that sticks with the reader. But in the show, he’ll likely be around the same age as the other Crows – i.e. in his early to mid-twenties – which might have interesting ramifications for his character arc. Book readers will know what I’m talking about, the rest of you will hopefully be sufficiently tantalized by the hints I’m dropping that you’ll go check out the books.

Wylan Van Eck
The Crows | variety.com

In Shadow And Bone‘s second season, the thing I’m most excited to see from Wylan are the nuances of his character that I can’t begin to explain here without entering major spoiler territory. There’s so much more going on beneath the surface than you realize at first, and he grows on you with each reread. I can’t wait for new fans to meet this amazing character and fall in love with him just as deeply as longtime Grishaverse geeks have, and I hope this post gets you a little more hyped for his inclusion in Shadow And Bone season two.

But what are your feelings on the character, and who’s your fan-cast? Share your own thoughts, theories, and opinions, in the comments below!

“Shadow And Bone” Will Return For A Second Season!

I appreciate that after forcing the entire Grishaverse fandom to wait on an official renewal of Shadow And Bone for over a month, Netflix finally dropped the hotly-anticipated announcement into the opening minutes of their Geeked Week fandom event as a sweet surprise for fans. Well, I say “surprise”, but let’s be honest, this was pretty much the worst kept secret at the streaming service. As Netflix confirmed today alongside the renewal, Shadow And Bone‘s first season was viewed by more than 55 million households in its first 28 days, making it a huge hit for the studio. Obviously, all those times I left the show playing in the background so it would boost streaming numbers actually worked.

Shadow And Bone
Shadow And Bone | geekgirlauthority.com

There’s not much official information about Shadow And Bone‘s second season just yet, apart from confirmation that it will be eight episodes in length like the first (still too short, if you ask me, but whatever), and that the writer’s room has wrapped, with showrunner Eric Heisserer presiding (hurrah, I guess). Grishaverse author Leigh Bardugo will continue to be involved in her capacity as consultant and executive producer. And all of the main cast will return, including Jessie Mei Li, Freddy Carter, Ben Barnes, Amita Suman, Archie Renaux, and Kit Young, while Danielle Galligan and Calahan Skogman have been upgraded to series regulars in preparation for their greatly expanded roles next season. All good stuff.

But the reason Shadow And Bone exploded into the trending section of Twitter after the official announcement was because fans of Bardugo’s novels (including myself) are hyped for a bunch of new characters who will be joining the second season, if the show follows the books: Wylan Van Eck, the surprisingly formidable wayward son of a wealthy merchant who specializes in demolition while sustaining an adorable romance with the series’ resident bicon, Jesper Fahey; Nikolai Lantsov, the charismatic younger prince of Ravka who has his eyes set on the crown and an alliance with the Sun Summoner herself; and Tolya and Tamar, secretive twin mercenaries from Shu Han in league with a pirate. All of these characters come with their own fans, and Wylan in particular is extremely popular: as evidenced by the fact that he is still trending on Twitter as of this writing.

Shadow And Bone
Shadow And Bone | hitc.com

Obviously, these and other major casting announcements can be expected in the near future – given that Geeked Week will continue for a few more days, and that day three is devoted specifically to fantasy, we might even get some new information then. But this reveal on its own is very exciting, and allows me to continue wildly theorizing and speculating about season two, with the assurance that season two is actually happening. There’s no word yet on when season two will begin filming or potentially debut on Netflix, although there’s no reason why, with the scripts already completed, it couldn’t go into production soon and be ready for release by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.

But while we wait, you can expect me to keep covering the show extensively (I may or may not be in the process of writing an entire breakdown of the top ten Six Of Crows scenes in Shadow And Bone‘s first season…), as well as pushing the show’s production team to address and fix mistakes made on the first season. I haven’t forgotten that someone behind-the-scenes (most likely the show’s stunt coordinator, based on what I’ve learned about the casting process) signed off on a white stunt double being hired for Amita Suman and then painted brown to match the Desi actress’ skin color. Eric Heisserer, who claims he was completely unaware of this, apologized on a Reddit forum to fans and to Suman: whether you accept his apology or not is up to you, but there’s clearly much more work to be done making sure the show’s inclusive messages are applied behind-the-scenes as well.

Shadow And Bone
Kaz Brekker and Milo | nerdist.com

But what are you most excited to see when Shadow And Bone returns? Share your own thoughts, theories, and opinions, in the comments below!

“Cruella” Is The Pseudo-Anarchistic 101 Dalmatians Origin Story We Needed

Spring 2021 is the season of the heist genre, and there’s a little something for everyone depending on your taste. Craving magical crimes with a fantastical setting? Shadow And Bone will scratch that itch. Looking for gritty, action-packed heists with gory violence? Army Of The Dead will suit you well. Desiring something fun` and more than a tad bit campy, with fashion-forward antiheroes who come this close to openly embodying the queer anarchist rallying cry of “be gay, do crimes” without ever being explicitly queer because Disney is only feeling so generous with its rainbow capitalism on the eve of Pride Month? Yep, Cruella sounds like the movie for you.

Cruella
Cruella De Vil | nbcnews.com

Cruella is indeed a heist movie – as well as many other things – and that alone probably shouldn’t be surprising, given that the satanic style icon was stealing Dalmatian puppies all the way back in 1961. What is surprising is that Disney actually allows their protagonist to commit crimes unapologetically and often without provocation, even contemplating murder at one point. But for every police barricade Cruella De Vil (Emma Stone) jumps or barrels down in her automobile, there’s more set up further down the road that she won’t – literally can’t – cross. They’re the invisible but omnipresent barriers set up by Disney’s in-studio censors…a strict gridlock of moral guidelines that keep Cruella’s chaotic escapades from ever getting fully out of hand, i.e. beyond Disney’s ability to justify, excuse, or deem “family-friendly”.

Ironically, that means the one thing Cruella never does in this 101 Dalmatians origin story is skin puppies and make fabulous coats of their fur, which is…kind of her whole deal in the original movie. But there, she was a villain, so it really didn’t matter how many horrible things she did because her fate was determined from the outset by the Hays Code: she would be punished, and her crimes would all be undone. Sixty years later, the reverse is true – Cruella is a Disney protagonist now, so she can dabble in darkness but ultimately she will choose the morally “good” alternative to whatever evil deed seems easiest. She can contemplate murder now, which is progress, but she’ll resort to nonviolence in the end. She can joke about killing dogs, and the film can find a clever way to incorporate her inhumane fashion sensibilities into the story, but she’ll never actually do it.

And it’s a damn shame, because the screenwriters clearly want to push the limits of what they can do in a Disney movie. Cruella is a thief, a masterful one at that, and she keeps what she takes for herself – a stark contrast to Disney’s Aladdin. She vandalizes public property with glee. She outmaneuvers the police on a regular basis, and looks good doing it. There’s no reason why this version of the character, as distant as she may be from the iconic animated villain voiced by Betty Lou Gerson, couldn’t be legendary on her own. She could be another Kaz Brekker, to be honest: an ambitious antiheroine who manipulates the system that created her (in this case, the patriarchy) to get what she wants, while remaining fiercely protective of her found family.

There is of course the question of whether or not this needed to be a Cruella De Vil story at all, given how far it diverges from the source material, and the film…never really answers that question. It certainly does very little to offer any insight into Cruella as we remember her from 101 Dalmatians, so it’s not particularly effective as a prequel (despite the mid-credits sequel-bait scene that sets up the latter film’s events). But Cruella takes big liberties with the character, and isn’t afraid to pursue the consequences of those canon alterations. That’s how we end up spending a large part of the movie watching a glamorous, high-stakes battle of innovative fashion masterminds play out against the backdrop of late 70’s London: none of it has anything to do with Dalmatians, except tangentially, and every moment of it is glorious.

Cruella
The Baroness | cosmopolitan.com

Cruella herself is a loud and proud punk rock fashion icon whom Emma Stone plays as if she just swaggered off the set of a Ryan Murphy Netflix show – and fans of those intoxicatingly campy and melodramatic shows, including Ratched and most recently Halston, will find much to love in Stone’s performance as well as many of her character’s story beats, from her sassy witticisms to the elegance she brings to all of her most outlandish costumes, whether riding in the back of a dump-truck with her train billowing out behind her in the street or staging a rock concert in a wealthy neighborhood and fleeing from the cops. Adding to the Murphyness of it all, Cruella finds Emma Thompson transforming into a narcissistic criminal mastermind named the Baroness Von Hellman, who owns a trio of attack dogs, a remote mansion equipped with cliffs off of which to push her rivals, and the undivided attention of the London tabloids.

But one thing this movie lacks entirely is explicit queer representation, a crucial ingredient in Murphy’s formula. Don’t get me wrong, the Hollywood trades made all the usual pre-release uproar about Disney’s nineteenth “first openly gay character” being a friend of Cruella’s named Artie (John McCrea), but this assumption seems to have been based on Artie wearing colorful, boldly patterned clothing…in the 1970’s. In one scene, he saves the life of Cruella’s henchman Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), and it’s deliberately vague enough that you can read as much or as little into that gesture as you want. Sure, I low-key ship it, but neither character is canonically gay – and it’s particularly disappointing given how easily this story could be viewed through a queer lens.

Among the supporting cast, there are several characters whose roles would presumably increase in a sequel, if one happens, although they’re currently rather underwritten. Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s Anita, in between being pressured to help one white woman’s rise to fame or threatened by another white woman to expose her rival’s secret identity, makes a strong argument for why she should lead the inevitable 101 Dalmatians remake. Kayvan Novak doesn’t leave quite as strong an impression as the hopelessly disorganized Roger, but he’s charming enough. There’s also a clever nod to the unnamed woman with the large shaggy dog who walks past Roger’s apartment in the opening scene of 101 Dalmatians, context which will no doubt prove vital when she appears in the remake.

Cruella
Cruella | tomandlorenzo.com

To the film’s credit, it knows its core premise is an absurd attempt to exhume a decades-old franchise, and it absolutely revels in that knowledge – because why not? It’s about time Disney’s live-action remakes started having fun with the rich source material: enough of the halfhearted meandering (Beauty & The Beast), the low-quality photocopies (The Lion King), and the bland, uninspiring war-epic (Mulan); in with the ornate, outlandish, camp masterpiece. Not that it will satisfy some people, who have already taken a key scene from the first act and distributed it online as evidence that the film is an atrocity, as if that scene was not very clearly intended to be shockingly bizarre. If anything, people should be upset that the film doesn’t go far enough! But to quote Artie, “‘Normal’ is the cruelest insult of them all, and at least I don’t get that”.

Rating: 8/10

“Eternals” 1st Trailer Review!

After months of anxious waiting, with only a thirteen second clip to assuage our hunger for new Eternals content, a full-length trailer for Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao’s upcoming Marvel blockbuster has finally been released, offering audiences a proper look into the sprawling, colorful, world that Zhao has designed within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Eternals
Salma Hayek as Ajak | cbr.com

The confines of that universe are nearly limitless, but the Eternals are outsiders regardless – a group of immortal beings appointed by the Celestials to watch over Earth for thousands of years, and determine impartially whether the human race and their planet is worth saving. The twist, of course, is that many of the Eternals end up falling in love with Earth, and start subtly manipulating the flow of human history to guide humans towards a more desirable outcome for everyone…something which will presumably result in chaos, although there’s no official indication yet of the film’s main villain. Unofficially, thanks to toy leaks, we know that the unearthly Deviants, led by a Lovecraftian entity named Kro, will be battling the Eternals.

But thematically, the primary antagonists in this conflict are humanity’s darkest impulses and urges – constantly thwarting the Eternals’ well-intentioned efforts at every turn, and leading the planet into further turmoil. The trailer starts out with a recreation of idyllic rural life in prehistoric times and at the dawn of civilization in the Fertile Crescent, gradually building to the construction of the first walled settlements and cities, including ancient Babylon. There’s plenty here for history buffs to mull over, including the implication that it was the Eternal sorceress named Sersi who gifted an early human one of the famous ceremonial golden daggers found in the tomb of Meskalamdug in the Mesopotamian city of Ur.

But it’s not long before we see humans turning on each other, the gifted dagger being only a prelude for greater and more terrible weapons to come. One scene in the trailer appears to depict the fall of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan to Spanish colonizers, with the supernaturally fast Eternal Makkari helping Aztec civilians to escape while Salma Hayek’s Ajak prepares for battle with the conquistadors. We catch a glimpse of the youngest Eternal, the mischievous Sprite, wandering through the wreckage left in the wake of a volcanic eruption. The trauma and dawning realization in her eyes that this fate awaits the entire world if the Eternals don’t act is clearly a turning point in her character arc.

Eternals
Richard Madden as Ikaris | variety.com

But in the meantime, while Skeeter Davis’ “The End Of The World” plays hauntingly in the background, many of the other Eternals simply abandon their mission and enjoy themselves while they still can. The film teases several sequences of extraordinary beauty, including an Indian wedding ceremony for Sersi and the Eternal Ikaris, concluding literal millennia of flirting and courtship; a sprawling Bollywood dance number for Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo (who has become a popular celebrity, and is constantly followed around by a camera crew documenting his interactions with the other Eternals); and karaoke night with Sprite. I’d have loved to have seen even a single shot of Phastos joined by his mortal husband (with whom he apparently shares the MCU’s first gay kiss), but alas, nothing just yet.

Crucially, there’s one other thing that we don’t get to see in this trailer – and that’s the Celestials, at least one of whom will presumably arrive in the film’s climax to judge the fate of the world. And I’m talking about the real Celestials, not whatever the heck Ego the Living Planet was supposed to be in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. A Celestial is clearly inbound for Earth based on a shot of the skies darkening with storm-clouds and alien lightning while Sersi and her mortal boyfriend, Dane Whitman, stand hand-in-hand to face the apocalyptic sight. It’s a classic “time-to-get-the-team-back-together” scenario.

But getting the team back together, in this case, has a very literal meaning. The Eternals all have the ability to sync their minds and bodies through something known as the Uni-Mind, which Chloé Zhao depicts through luminous ribbons of golden energy connecting the characters as they levitate above a cliffside in the Canary Islands. Zhao’s use of light – particularly natural light – has become one of the hallmarks of her style, and Eternals provides her with a chance to turn that up to an eleven with the CGI budget now at her disposal.

Eternals
Ikaris and Sersi | indiewire.com

Of course, this is still a Marvel trailer, so it still has to end with a humorous stinger to remind general audiences why they should go see it (since apparently Chloé Zhao’s name alone and the potential for Marvel’s second serious Best Picture contender isn’t enough for some). But the humor between the Eternals feels natural and easygoing – Ikaris jokes that he should take over the Avengers in the absence of Iron Man and Captain America (whom the Eternals refer to as Captain Rogers, further evidence of their attempted impartiality), and his fellow space gods laugh at him. It’s a cute little moment, made even more endearing by the fact that Angelina Jolie is sitting at one end of the table, cheerfully swigging from a beer mug.

Trailer Rating: 8.5/10