Kait Mae

After City of Bones failed to get a sequel, fans were excited to see Freeform create Shadowhunters. I was one of those fans…until I saw the show. While it was fun, it wasn’t faithful to the story. From killing off a major character in the show that didn’t die in the books to the cringy dialogue in several places, I was a bit disappointed. So, while I loved the cast of both the movie and show, I have an idea of how Hollywood could better adapt the Shadowhunters books.

What Would It Look Like?

The main book series – The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, The Last Hours, and (when it comes out) The Wicked Powers – would be their own television series.

I’d make each episode for all the shows 45 minutes to one hour long, with 15 to 25 episodes per season.

Each book would have its own season. This would mean TMI would have six seasons, while the other series would have three seasons each.

As for the timing of when each show would come out, I would start with The Mortal Instruments. Since The Infernal Devices crosses over toward the end of TMI, I’d premiere the Victorian show during the second or third season of Mortal Instruments.

Once TMI had wrapped up, I’d immediately release the spin-off The Dark Artifices, with The Last Hours premiering around the same time or later.

After TDA, I could definitely see The Wicked Powers airing – if the books are all out by then. If they aren’t, I’d wait until they were to start working on the show.

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What About the Other Books?

In addition to the main books, we have The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, Ghosts of the Shadow Market, and The Eldest Curses.

Tales, Ghosts, and The Bane Chronicles would definitely be great as miniseries airing on YouTube or whichever streaming platform picked up the Shadowhunters main series.

As for The Eldest Curses, I think either movies or a miniseries would work well.

Let’s Cast the First Series

For The Mortal Instruments, I had a hard time narrowing down a lot of possibilities for actors. But here are some of my top picks.

For Clary, I wanted someone who either already has red hair naturally or has had red hair in the past, and it looks natural. My top four picks for her are Jeni Ross, Annalise Basso, Sadie Sink, and Francesca Capaldi. All four have credits in which I’ve seen various aspects of Clary, so I really couldn’t choose. That said, if I were going off action scene experience, Sadie Sink would take the cake.

I managed to narrow it down to three actors who just radiated Jace’s energy in some of their roles, even if they didn’t look exactly like what he was described as. Those three actors are Samuel Joslin, Aiden Flowers, and Elijah Stevenson. I also chose actors who were teenagers since Jace was 16 when he was first introduced in TMI.

Moving on to Clary’s best friend, I managed to choose only one actor for this lovable dork. Aiden Arthur is my pick for Simon because he looks like the character I imagined and could bring aspects from both his movie and show counterparts that made me like them so much.

Now, for Izzy and Alec, I chose two sets of actors that I feel could play the siblings we all fell in love with. The first set is Jessica Sula and Michael Rainey, Jr. The second set is Talia Ryder and Maxwell Jenkins. Regardless of which set I would go with, all of the actors would do amazing if their past work is anything to show for it.

Up next, for Magnus, since I couldn’t choose either actor from the past adaptations, there’s only one choice – the easiest choice I have ever made – to portray the warlock. Eugene Lee Yang is my only choice for Magnus Bane. And this is the only time in my life that I will not accept criticism.

Up next, let’s cast Luke. We have had two vastly different versions of him, and while I love Isaiah Mustafa as an actor, I prefer the movie’s version because it is more about the book. So, my choices for Luke are Sam Huntington and Lance Gross. Sam looks like Luke from the books and gives off the same vibes, but I also think Lance could handle the meek-ish Luke at the beginning of the series.

For Jocelyn, I think Laura Leighton or Kara Tointon could handle the role extremely well. Regardless of which Clary option is chosen, either actress looks like she could be a mom to them. Plus, their acting credits show they can tackle any role thrown at them.

Moving on to Valentine, the first main antagonist, I loved the show’s version of him so much, but I couldn’t choose him again, so I was looking for someone who could emanate the same energy. That’s how I narrowed it down to Jason Lewis and Sam Worthington. Both look like they could play the villain who doesn’t seem like a villain at first – and that’s what I want to see.

For the second main antagonist of the series, Sebastian/Johnathan, I narrowed it down to two actors who give off the same energy as the actors I chose for Valentine. Those two actors are Tom Glynn-Carney and Brandon Flynn. And though I doubt Tom would go for another franchise so close to House of the Dragon, a girl can hope, right?

Lastly (just because I loved her character), I want to see Sofia Bryant as Maia Reficco. She’d kill it, and you can’t convince me after her performance in The Girl in the Woods.

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Let’s Cast ‘The Infernal Devices’

For Tessa, I am casting myself. I’m just kidding – but it would be a dream role if I were still her age.

On a serious note, I think Mika Abdalla or Julia Goldana Telles would be amazing as her. Julia looks like Tessa fanart, but Mika just gives off the energy I get from Tessa. Also, please note that Tessa is American since I got into a whole debate with someone over her accent before.

Moving on to one side of the love triangle, we have Will. After The Little Mermaid, I don’t think anyone is surprised I chose Jonah Hauer-King as my Will.

Next, I managed to narrow down my choice of Jem to two actors. William Gao and Wang Yibo are amazing actors who just look like Jem in my head. Just imagine them with silver hair because I am not that good at Photoshop to actually show you.

I studied so many fan artist renditions of Sophie and still only managed to narrow it down to three actresses. First is Ella Purnell because I adore her, and she could do so well in the role. Next, we have Nathalie Emmanuel, whose character in Game of Thrones proved she’d be perfect. Lastly, we have Sorcha Groundsell—she looks like she’s pulled straight out of the official artwork of Sophie, but I haven’t seen her work yet.

Let’s cast Jessamine since I managed to choose just one actress. Eloise Smyth looks exactly like I imagined Jess, and she proved her acting chops to be perfect for this role in Harlots.

Next, let’s cast Henry, the resident scientist and inventor. I wanted someone who looked like the character in my head but also someone who gave off introverted energy – and that’s how I settled on Damian Lewis.

For his wife Charlotte, I managed to narrow it down to two choices – both based on experience portraying characters similar to Charlotte. These actresses are Freema Agyeman and Gemma Arterton.

For Nate Gray, I wanted someone who looked like either choice for Tessa but could also pull off a conniving villain. So, I landed on either Fionn Whitehead or Harry Gilby. Both have exactly what I’m looking for for Nate.

Last but not least, for Axel, I wanted an actor who I knew could play an unlikable character and do it well. So, I chose Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Anthony Head. All three have played characters who are unlikeable to some degree – some more than others – and I also like all of them as actors.

I’ll cast the other series once I finish the books (give me a couple of years because I have a long TBR), so keep an eye out for those posts.