Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments

**"Shape-shifting, huh? Well, that's original."**

This article is about **the TV series**. You may be looking for **the species page**.

## Shadowhunters

### **Also known as**

Shadowhunters: The
Mortal Instruments

### **Genre**

Fantasy
Drama

### **Based on**

*The Mortal Instruments*
by Cassandra Clare

### **Starring**

Katherine McNamara
Dominic Sherwood
Alberto Rosende
Matthew Daddario
Emeraude Toubia
Isaiah Mustafa
Harry Shum Jr.

## Production

### **Executive producer(s)**

McG
Todd Slavkin
Darren Swimmer
Robert "Bob" Shaye
Michael Lynne
Michael Reisz
Marjorie David
Robert Kulzer
Mary Viola

### **Producer(s)**

Don Carmody
David Cormican
Margo Klewans
Martin Moszkowicz

### **Production company**

Constantin Film
Unique Features
Wonderland Sound & Vision
Don Carmody Television

## Broadcast

### **Original channel**

Freeform
Netflix

### **Final episode**

*All Good Things...*

***Shadowhunters*** (sometimes stylized as ***ShadowHunters***), also known as ***Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments***, is the TV series adaptation of Cassandra Clare's *The Mortal Instruments*. It premiered on January 12, 2016 and aired on Tuesdays at 9:00 – 10:00 p.m., ET/PT on Freeform. It was also distributed internationally on Netflix.

## Plot

Based on the *New York Times* bestselling young adult fantasy book series *The Mortal Instruments* by Cassandra Clare, follows 18 year-old Clary Fray, who finds out on her birthday that she is not who she thinks she is, but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters — human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons. When her mother Jocelyn is kidnapped, Clary is thrown into the world of demon hunting with mysterious Shadowhunter Jace and her best friend Simon. Now living among faeries, warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Clary begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns more about her past and what her future may hold.

## Main cast

* Katherine McNamara as Clary Fairchild (55/55)
* Dominic Sherwood as Jace Herondale (55/55)
* Alberto Rosende as Simon Lewis (55/55)
* Matthew Daddario as Alec Lightwood (55/55)
* Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle Lightwood (55/55)
* Isaiah Mustafa as Luke Garroway (52/55)
* Harry Shum Jr. as Magnus Bane (53/55)
* Alisha Wainwright as Maia Roberts (29/55) (*3x01*-*3x22*; **Recurring:** *2x03 - 2x20*)

more...
## Episodes

*Main article: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments/Episodes* or see each season's Episodes section

 **3B (Shadowhunters: The Final Hunt)**: The Shadowhunters face a new level of evil that they can't even imagine with the return of Jonathan Morgenstern.

\* summaries are a combination of various summaries, from official press releases and Netflix

## Production

### Development

At MIPCOM on October 12, 2014, the development of the project was first revealed by Constantin Film, instead of the initially planned *The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes* sequel to the first film that was initially set to begin production in September 2013, before it was delayed and ultimately scrapped.

The plan and vision was to relaunch *The Mortal Instruments* as a high-end drama series with one-hour episodes and as a complete reboot of the film. Producer Don Carmody expressed his desire to make the show a limited TV series, hoping to release a season (one per book) every year and shooting it in Toronto, and Constantin Film revealing its aims to spend 2.5-5 million per episode. Unique Features' Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne were onboard as executive producers, as they were on the film. Ed Decter was also hired as showrunner, executive producer, and head writer of the first season.

Cassandra Clare first shared the series' working title "*Shadowhunters*" on Twitter in February 2015. Along with a confirmation and extension of the title, it was revealed by an OLV source that production was set to begin in May that year in Vancouver. A Craigslist LA listing also put up the information of the series pilot, confirming the previous information and revealing casting notices, as well as part of the show's description. Casting sides were also made available online, and some audition videos, along with speculations that came with the script portions, eventually made its way online.

Author Cassandra Clare eventually met with the network that picked the series up. Days later, on March 30, 2015, it was officially announced that the series was given a 13-episode straight-to-series order on ABC Family.

The series is part of a broader strategic shift at Constantin that will see the German-based company move into English-language television series, one of several television adaptations of several of its English-language movie properties, including *Perfume: The Story of a Murderer* and *Resident Evil*. The project also marks ABC Family's first scripted "saga-to-series," and comes as the Disney-owned cable network is plotting a rebranding to target older viewers and families alike.

It was soon revealed that production would take place in May 2015 in Toronto. McG's involvement as executive producer was then announced. ABC Family later announced that *Shadowhunters* is part of its early 2016 programming, premiering alongside another book adaptation project, *Recovery Road*. Production began in May (principal photography on the 25th) and ran until October 2015. Cassandra Clare has also stated that the show will be quite different from the books and is more like an "interpretation", and that it will not be a book per season. She also revealed that the first season would incorporate elements from later books, which was also supported by the early appearances of characters that appear much later in the book series.

On March 14, 2016, the show's renewal for a second season was official announced via a Facebook Q&A with the main cast and executive producers McG and Ed Decter.

### Casting

Casting was already a priority during early stages of development, as well as a concern among fans. The first real update was released through the Craigslist LA listing posted on March 4, 2015. Alyson Silverberg, Jonathan Clay Harris, and Anthony J. Kraus serve as casting directors, and Susan Esrock and Justin Kiang as casting associates. The pilot ad included character descriptions of Clary, Jace, and Simon, all revealed to have been aged up a few years from their book counterparts. The presence of casting sides online on sites such as Showfax and SidesExpress was also revealed. There is some indication that Isabelle, Alec, Jocelyn, Valentine, and Luke, as well as Dorothea, were among the other characters being auditioned for at the time. Some audition videos also made their way online. Via Twitter, McG publicized updates regarding the casting process, along with some production notes, in April.

On April 20, 2015, it was announced that Dominic Sherwood was cast as Jace. Casting of the main characters continued in May, with Alberto Rosende, Emeraude Toubia, Katherine McNamara, Matthew Daddario, Isaiah Mustafa, Alan Van Sprang, Harry Shum Jr., and Maxim Roy landing the parts of Simon, Isabelle, Clary, Alec, Luke, Valentine, Magnus, and Jocelyn, respectively. Other recurring roles beyond the pilot were cast and announced after.

### Cancellation

On June 4, 2018, it was announced that *Shadowhunters* was cancelled, in part due to Constantin Film losing its deal with Netflix, and the premiere of the second half of the airing third season was delayed by around six months. An additional two episodes, which aired as a two-hour series finale, was ordered in order to give closure to the storyline.

Due to the unforeseen cancellation of the series and the sudden order for two additional, ending episodes after filming proper for the season had already wrapped, some of the actors had already committed to other projects. This included Alisha Wainwright, who portrays Maia Roberts. Wainwright could only manage to shoot all her scenes for the final episodes in one day. The closing story for Maia was adjusted accordingly; according to the actress, the showrunners shared with her the details of what they would have liked to do with the character if they had more time with her. Isaiah Mustafa was also filming *It: Chapter Two* and was barely present in the finale episodes.

Less than a month after filming for the finale episodes wrapped, an online auction of the *Shadowhunters* props was made public on 403 Auction, with its names and descriptions spoiling some events from unaired episodes before they were removed following outrage from the fans and involved crew members.

* Season 4

By that point, the writers already had plans and ideas mapped out for a fourth season. The finale episodes, which were written on short notice, consist of story lines intended for the cancelled season, condensed and hastily wrapped up in two episodes. In addition, the original ending of what was supposed to be the season finale, *City of Glass*, was also changed, with the cliffhanger removed and instead incorporated into the new episode for better transition into the story's conclusion.

Had the show not been cancelled, the writers hoped to delve into the following story lines:

* Magnus embracing his dark side with Asmodeus, and Alec eventually bringing him back;
* Jonathan's reign of terror, long metamorphosis, and his relationship with the Seelie Queen;
* Simon and Isabelle's romance would have finally been front and center after seasons of building them up. Isabelle's heavenly fire conundrum, and their trip to Edom, would have taken longer.
* Helen Blackthorn and Aline Penhallow's romance would have been explored and highlighted. Helen's siblings, the Blackthorns, at the Los Angeles Institute would have played a big part; specifically, the murder of one of Helen's siblings would have been played out.
* Maia's arc as pack alpha and Luke as a Shadowhunter and his life in the New York Institute;
* The showrunners would also have liked for Magnus and Alec's wedding to have taken longer to plan, and for more interactions to have taken place at the wedding, such as Jace thanking Magnus, Robert being happy that Maryse found love again, and for Luke and Maia to simply have been at the wedding, and more moments that could hypothetically have taken up an episode.
* Clary would have been racked with guilt over her actions when she was with Jonathan and would have been driven to clean up her mess, while Jace would have helped her try to return to normal. Their relationship would have normalized somewhat, with more moments like the date they had in the third season.
* Jace and Clary getting married would also have been a possibility.
* Clary and Isabelle becoming *parabatai* would have been built up later down the line.

Meanwhile, if the show had been renewed for another season following the finale, with Clary's memory loss, which had not been part of their original plans, now part of the story, they would have explored Clary's reintegration into her Shadowhunter life, with Jace retraining her. It would parallel her beginnings in the show, but with all of them more mature, with Clary as a "strong young woman who's found herself as an artist," with the possibility of her getting her memories back.
## Gallery

*For the whole collection of images and videos for the show, browse the image galleries on the wiki.*
### Images

*City of Bones* TV tie-in editionShTMI 03, teaser header.jpg
### Videos

TMI S1 Trailer 01TMI S3A Trailer 01TMI S3 Opening CreditsCurrent Opening Credits
## See also

* Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments/Differences from the books

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/McGsWonderland/status/588458377019199488
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/andrew\_bronfman/status/601493909148172288
3. ↑ Jonathan Clay Harris (@jonclayharris) and the rest of the *Shadowhunters* crew on Twitter
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/edecter/status/605422324720889856
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mipcom-mortal-instruments-return-as-740204
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 http://deadline.com/2014/10/mortal-instruments-tv-series-ed-decter-showrunner-855645/
7. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/03/shadowhunters-tv-series-abc-family-mortal-instruments-1201401266/
8. ↑ http://globalnews.ca/news/1860413/producer-don-carmody-plans-to-bring-the-mortal-instruments-to-television/
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://tmisource.com/2014/10/13/the-mortal-instruments-tv-series-update/
10. ↑ http://look-better-in-black.blogspot.de/2014/10/chroniken-der-unterwelt-tv-serie-update.html
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/mortal-instruments-drama
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-mortal-instruments-shadowhunters
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/568852538864201728
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/lemon\_buzz/status/573288173511442432
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Listing deleted; archived
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/04/shadowhunters-leaked-audition-videos.html
17. ↑ http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/03/shadowhunters-rumor-mortal-instruments.html
18. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/: [1] [2] [3]
19. ↑ https://twitter.com/GlobalJRK/status/586639149886636032
20. ↑ https://twitter.com/McGsWonderland/status/596575092647202816
21. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/04/mcg-director-mortal-instruments-series-shadowhunters-abc-family-1201408945/
22. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/04/abc-family-becomers-original-programming-development-slate-1201409921/
23. ↑ http://tmisource.com/2015/05/25/shadowhunters-officially-begins-filming-today/
24. ↑ https://twitter.com/GlobalJRK/status/586639149886636032
25. ↑ http://www.actratoronto.com/whats-shooting/
26. ↑ http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/06/various-shows-production-dates.html
27. ↑ http://www.omdc.on.ca/film\_and\_tv/Ontario\_Film\_Commission/in\_production.htm
28. ↑ http://www.dgc.ca/ontario/hotlist/Hotlist.pdf
29. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/615916752644481024
30. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/615920377915686912
31. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/619974563917467648
32. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/619975039832555520
33. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/620066395284353024
34. ↑ https://twitter.com/cassieclare/status/621495132953661440
35. ↑ 'Shadowhunters' Renewed for Second Season at Freeform - Hollywood Reporter
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 http://tmiaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/ongoing-updates-shadowhunters-producer\_96.html
37. ↑ http://www.showfax.com/role\_selection.cfm?l=5&t=2&p=145233
38. ↑ http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/shadowhunters-cast-jace-dominic-sherwood-abc-family-show-1201475848/
39. ↑ http://www.thewrap.com/abc-familys-shadowhunters-adds-alberto-rosende-and-emeraude-toubia/
40. ↑ http://www.thewrap.com/katherine-mcnamara-joins-abc-familys-shadowhunters-as-clary-fray-exclusive/
41. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/05/matthew-daddario-isaiah-mustafa-cast-shadowhunters-abc-family-1201423256/
42. ↑ http://www.thewrap.com/abc-familys-shadowhunters-casts-alan-van-sprang-as-main-villain/
43. ↑ http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/glee-alum-joins-shadowhunters-1201498009/
44. ↑ http://tvline.com/2015/05/18/shadowhunters-series-cast-jocelyn-frey-maxim-roy/
45. ↑ Sources say producer Constantin Film lost its output deal with Netflix, Hollywood Reporter
46. ↑ ‘Shadowhunters’ Cancellation Was “Purely Economic,” Freeform Exec Says | Deadline
47. ↑ ‘Shadowhunters’ To End After 3 Seasons, Freeform Orders 2-Hour Finale To Wrap Series In 2019 | Deadline
48. ↑ ‘Shadowhunters’ To End After 3 Seasons, Freeform Orders 2-Hour Finale To Wrap Series In 2019 | Deadline
49. ↑ Shadowhunters star reveals the series finale changed because of a filming clash — Digital Spy
50. ↑ Farewell to Shadowhunters: Alisha Wainwright Teases Maia and Simon's Final Moments - TV Guide on YouTube
51. ↑ *Shadowhunters* Auction Accidentally Spoils Final Season Twists for Fans | TVLine
52. ↑ *Shadowhunters* Fans Are Bummed After An Auction Spoils Finale Secrets | TV Guide
53. ↑ *Shadowhunters* Bosses Drop Hints About Season 4 in the Series Finale | TV Guide
54. ↑ "... the current 320 episode out was \*not\* the season out (when 320 was the finale). We left on a different cliffhanger. One that you'll now see fairly early on in 321. It’s hot." Bryan Q. Miller on Twitter
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 *Shadowhunters* Bosses Imagine What's Next for Malec After That 'Glorious' Wedding | TV Guide
56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 56.5 56.6 'Shadowhunters' Series Finale: Bosses Explain Clary's Cliffhanger and Malec's Near Perfect Wedding | Entertainment Tonight
57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Shadowhunters show runners reveal would-be season 4 plans ahead of feature-length finale | Metro News
58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 58.3 58.4 58.5 *Shadowhunters* bosses reveal what would've happened in season 4 and beyond | EW.com

## External links

* *Shadowhunters* on Freeform
* *Shadowhunters* on Facebook
* *Shadowhunters* on Twitter
* *Shadowhunters* writers on Twitter
* *Shadowhunters* on Instagram
* *Shadowhunters* on Tumblr
* *Shadowhunters* on Pinterest
* *Shadowhunters* on Youtube
* *Shadowhunters* at the Internet Movie Database
* *Shadowhunters* on Wikipedia