Children of Blood and Bone cast reveals the family drama at the heart of the fantasy epic

There's plenty of magic, mythology, and larger-than-life action in Children of Blood and Bone , but beneath all that fantasy is something a little more grounded: family drama.

The upcoming adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi 's bestselling novel closed out Saturday night at New York Comic Con with a packed panel on the Empire Stage, where director Gina Prince-Bythewood and the star-studded cast debuted an extended trailer offering fans another look at the fantastical world of Orïsha.

And while the footage delivered on the film's epic scale, some of its most compelling moments were decidedly more intimate.

SEE ALSO: How 'Children of Blood and Bone' is bringing one of BookTok's biggest fantasy worlds to the big screen The trailer puts the royal family's fractured relationships into sharper focus.

After witnessing a horrific act of violence at the hands of her father, King Saran (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Princess Amari (Amandla Stenberg) flees the palace, while her brother, Inan (Damson Idris), finds himself torn between loyalty to his father and his own conscience.

During a conversation moderated by Knives Out filmmaker Rian Johnson, the cast opened up about the emotional conflicts driving the film's two central families.

Johnson described the relationship between Saran and his children as a "Shakespearean journey," one defined by love, betrayal, and the struggle to trust the people closest to you. (L-R) Rian Johnson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Thuso Mbedu, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Tosin Cole, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, and Chiwetel Ejiofor attend New York Comic Con 2026.

Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures A royal family divided Children of Blood and Bone follows Zélie Adebola (Thuso Mbedu), a young woman determined to restore magic to Orïsha after a brutal campaign against the maji, the people who once wielded it.

Her quest puts her on a collision course with the ruling monarchy, where the king's cruelty has already begun to fracture his own family.

Ejiofor described King Saran as a man impelled by trauma and rage, whose convictions are challenged over the course of the story.

"There's a sort of bottomless pit that he has," the actor said of his character's emotional intensity.

To explore the royal family's complicated history, Prince-Bythewood brought the three actors together to imagine the experiences that shaped their characters, including moments that might never appear onscreen.

"Gina got us together and we kind of just talked about things that may have happened and may not have happened, and the dynamics of a family such as this," Idris said.