Shadow and Bone star Patrick Gibson unpacks his dual 'Tony Stark–esque' season 2 role

In his first audition for Shadow and Bone season 2, actor Patrick Gibson (The OA, Tolkien) struggled to connect with the character he was chasing. He was given a scene involving Sturmhond, a famous privateer that Alina (Jessie Mei Li) meets in her mission to find more amplifiers.

"There was a lot of Sturmhond's kind of bravado," Gibson recalls to EW. "He's almost like this Tony Stark–esque figure, where he's just so confident and almost cocky. I was just like, 'God, I don't know if I can be this super-gregarious figure for a whole show.'"

Everything came into focus with the second round of auditions, when he received material for both Sturmhond and his alter ego, Nikolai Lantsov. Sturmhond is a persona that Nikolai, a prince of Ravka, creates for himself. Gibson sees it as a type of armor.

"It was a beautiful scene that I don't think was actually ever in the show in the end, but maybe from the books, where Nikolai is just talking to Alina about his upbringing, living in the court, and how he feels a kinship with her because he had difficulties in his life and being accepted," the actor says, looking back on those auditions. "I realized that vulnerability in that side of him was his core and really who he was before all of the Sturmhond bravado."

Shadow and Bone fans will meet Nikolai as Sturmhond when season 2 premieres March 16 on Netflix. A clip from the season, which EW can exclusively reveal, shows an early meeting between Alina, the Sun Summoner destined to free Ravka from the stain of the Shadow Fold, and the charismatic privateer, who can't yet determine Alina's intentions.

Ravka's First Army are back to hunting Grisha as a result of the events of season 1. The Sun Summoner might be working with the Darkling (Ben Barnes), who used his powers to kill a skiff full of diplomats and swallow an entire town with the Fold. When Sturmhond learns of Alina's plan to boost her power with Morozova's amplifiers, he jumps at the chance to chase adventure, danger, and money.

"In that confrontation, she's almost the perfect opponent for him," Gibson says of filming the scene. "Although I will say she is almost definitely smarter and more powerful. He's been looking for somebody to go toe-to-toe with and somebody who can match him and be an ally."

Nikolai/Sturmhond is most prominent in Ruin and Rising, the third novel in author Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse series on which the show is based. However, showrunners Eric Heisserer and Daegan Fryklind have remixed the material so that season 2 will incorporate elements from both that entry and the second novel, Siege and Storm.

Gibson tore through the books after his first audition, which he says gave him more insight into Nikolai: "It's so interesting to have the chance to play a character who has created a character for themselves. There's a strange meta element to it because that's what draws you to wanting to be an actor. Under the surface there's maybe a desire to explore different facets of yourself and escape yourself."

He continues, "In order to achieve the things he wants, I think Nikolai has to compartmentalize those two people and be somebody else as Sturmhond. It allows him to do certain things and behave in ways he wouldn't have the courage to do — or the permission to do — as Nikolai."

Shadow and Bone season 2 premieres March 16 on Netflix.

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