Set in contemporary Malmö, the show stars Adam Pålsson as the eponymous protagonist, recently graduated from the police academy. When a young man on his housing estate is killed via a grenade to the mouth, Wallander is abruptly drafted into the investigation as a detective, finding himself entangled with local philanthropist Gustav Munck as anti-immigration sentiment amidst the public begins to grow following the boy's murder.
Debuting on Netflix in September 2020, Young Wallander is a co-production between the United Kingdom and the Swedish production company Yellow Bird, who also produced both the Henriksson and the Branagh Wallander shows.
A second season was released in February 2022.
Young Wallander provides examples of:
- After Action Patch Up: Wallander ends up on the receiving end of this, courtesy of Mona.
- Domestic Abuse: Implied with Rickard Lundgren and his wife.
- External Combustion: Karl-Axel Munck tries to get rid of his brother Gustav this way. Hemberg gets caught in the explosion instead.
- Fair Cop: The young Wallander is a very handsome man.
- Nordic Noir: An example of it, being a moody crime thriller set in Mälmo, Sweden.
- Prequel: Described as more of a "pre-imagining" than a straight prequel, due to being set in the modern day.
- Setting Update: Wallander is presented as a rookie in the present day, whilst the short story "Wallander's First Case" is set in 1969, in order to integrate contemporary social commentary - a strong part of the original books.
- Translation Convention: As with the Kenneth Branagh series, most of the Swedish is presented as British English.
