Disney+ Drops the 'Shardlake' Trailer with Sean Bean & Anthony Boyle

Disney+ announced it was boarding the forthcoming adaptation of C.J. Sansom's Shardlake novels from All3Media's The Forge in January 2023. Set during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century, these historical mystery novels star a hunchbacked lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, whose first case is commissioned by Henry's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. Though the series was filmed in 2022, it's been over a year since we've heard anything more, with Disney finally debuting the first trailer and entire cast.

Arthur Hughes (Ordeal by Innocence) plays Matthew Shardlake, one of the few honest lawyers in London with an acute sense of justice. Sean Bean (Time) plays Shardlake's boss, Thomas Cromwell, who fans of Wolf Hall know was the real-life, all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII. The trio of stars is rounded out by Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air), the cocky and good-looking Jack Barak, who is technically Shardlake's assistant, though Shardlake isn't so sure if his loyalties are to him or Cromwell as a spy.

At this point, Shardlake is still being billed as a series that's coming to Disney+ across the board, but it should be noted that this is a Disney+ UK series, many of which wind up on Hulu in America since they tend to be PG-13 (or "not family-friendly enough for Disney"). With Hulu moving under the Disney+ banner in America, that will be less of a big deal, at least for those who subscribe to both. But for now, it's uncertain which banner the show winds up under for those who only subscribe to one or the other, and we'll be keeping an eye on that.