Almost everyone loves a good villain, and that very least most audiences enjoy a good morally gray character that you're made to love to hate. The best villains are often the ones that you're made to sympathize with, only to watch them do horrible things to the characters they claim to care about, and Shadow and Bone definitely has a character that evokes all of these feelings in viewers. Collider's Christina Radish recently spoke with Ben Barnes about his role in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, and naturally the conversation turned to what fans can expect from Season 2. Rather than revealing anything beyond what Netflix already revealed in the recent teaser trailer, Barnes opted to discuss Darkling's humanity and how he views him as a real person who has suffered, which is music to the ears of anyone who loves villains.

By design, Darkling's tragic story shapes him into a very sympathetic character, but by the end of Season 1—and after everything he has done to Alina (Jessica Mei Li) in the name of his continued pursuit of power—it's clear that the character has passed the point of no return. So where does that leave him in the eyes of audiences when the series returns? Well, Barnes explained his personal approach to the character and how he views both the real-world implications and how he rationalizes what can and cannot be condoned by saying:

I would say, with regard to my character, what I was championing was finding the humanity. He’s quite emblematic of something dark and evil in the books, after the first one, so my mission was to make sure that he’s a real person, suffering the things he’s suffering and committing the sins that he’s committing.There are the real world ramifications of those things, and the relationships, how they’re made and how they’re broken, whether they can be salvaged, what new connections he can forge to help him along his journey, whilst also representing and not shying away from the fact that this is the villain. Which parts of what he does are comprehensible? Which parts can you not condone? All of that stuff was swimming around in my head while we were shooting. Luckily, we have showrunners that are very kind and collaborative, in terms of my input on that character. I feel quite a deep connection to what it ended up being, even though it’s fantasy and even though it’s a villain. I felt like I could take ownership of a lot of where it goes, so I’m very keen to see it.

Shadow and Bone Jessie Mei Li Ben Barnes social
Image via Netflix

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Fans of the Darkling and villains like him might be a little worried about whether or not a show with such a large ensemble cast will have the time to really dig deep into who he is and what his motivations are driven by, but Barnes seems really positive about how the show has been constructed. Looking ahead at Season 2, Barnes explained that, There are six main characters in the first season, and now, there are essentially about 16. And there are these cleverly intertwined plot lines. People’s agendas and the action is obviously amped up, as is the adventure."

While the Darkling and Alina are probably never, ever getting back together, hopefully fans of the pairing will get a chance to see the duo back on screen and dealing the ramifications of his actions last season. In addition to Barnes and Li, Shadow and Bone stars Archie Renaux, Danielle Galligan, Calahan Skogman, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Sujaya Dasqupta, Zoë Wanamaker, Lewis Tan, Anna Leong Brophy, Jack Wolfe, Daisy Head, Simon Sears, Howard Charles, Julian Kostov, Kevin Eldon, Jasmine Blackborow, Gabrielle Brooks, and Luke Pasqualino.

While you wait for the return of Shadow and Bone check out our interview with Barnes from last year: