If you’re like me, you were stoked when author Maggie Stiefvater announced her New York Times best-selling series, The Raven Cycle was optioned for TV. Perhaps even better, slated to direct the pilot is Catherine Hardwicke of Twilight and Thirteen! A woman, directing The Raven Cycle! Heck yeah!
Today, Variety announced that not ONLY was Hardwicke signed on to direct, Michael London to produce, and Andrew Miller (of The Secret Circle) to run the show, but that Syfy will be the show’s home on our television screens.
This excites me for so many reasons.
Firstly, I’m a huge fan of the books. Secondly, I think Hardwicke’s style is perfect for the tone of the series. The Raven Cycle tells the story of Blue Sargent, her four best friends and their search for a dead Welsh king on a ley line in rural Virginia. The books can move from joyous to downright creepy in just the turn of the page. They balance mysticism, humor, and class dynamics with the speed of a ’73 Camaro. The characters street race and make (deadly) bargains with mystical forces. They fight and fall in love.
The Raven Cycle gained increasing notoriety and popularity after the publication of the second book in the series, The Dream Thieves. In the book, Ronan Lynch (one of the series’ main characters and a fan favorite) comes to terms with his sexuality. Having a television show portray Ronan – angry, full of grief and Latin jokes – coming to terms with his sexuality in the American South would be a revolutionary moment for television.
And Syfy’s been delivering good things for LGBTQ characters lately. Wynonna Earp continues to deliver vibrant, powerful gay women who live and thrive onscreen.
And while The Raven Cycle has been criticized for being very white books, the new TV adaptation has the chance to remedy that. Blue can be the woman of color I pictured her to be; neither Ronan nor Adam have to be white. Neither does Noah. No one does! It’s awesome!
With Syfy as the show’s home, I feel hopeful for a diverse cast. Syfy’s adaptations of The Magicians and The Expanse have diverse casts, despite the source materials feeling overwhelmingly white. Syfy’s programing in the last few years has been absolutely incredible. I only hope it continues with the adaptation of The Raven Cycle.
