A weak king guidelines over a cobbled-together kingdom that is already coming aside on the seams. Varied heroes and villains compete and scheme to say the throne. A brand new challenger rises up from throughout the ocean, stuffed with vengeance and bloodlust.
If that sounds just like the premise of Sport of Thrones, nicely, that is as a result of it’s. But it surely’s additionally the set-up for Prime Video’s thrilling new motion drama from one of many Twenty first-century’s most profitable showrunners.
Throughout New York Comedian Con 2026, I attended an early screening of Bloodaxe, a brand new sequence from Vikings creator Michael Hirst and his son Horatio. Based mostly on the present’s first episode, which premieres in January 2027 on Prime Video, the streamer may simply have a brand new Sport of Thrones-level hit on its palms. Or on the very least, an entertaining new present for VIkings followers.
Meet Eric Bloodaxe
Bloodaxe tells the real-life story of Eric Haraldsson (aka Eric Bloodaxe), who lived in the course of the tenth century. After we first meet Eric (Xavier Molyneux), he is already a strong warrior and a preferred determine in Viking society. His father, King Harald (Jesper Christensen), is starting to lose his grip on the Norwegian kingdom he spent his life uniting. Eric expects to be named successor, however then Harald reveals that his youthful son Haakon (Levi Miller), who spent his childhood in England studying the artwork of diplomacy, shall be king as a substitute. In the meantime, Eric’s statuesque spouse Gunnhild (Bridgerton‘s Jessica Madsen) has her personal schemes in thoughts to raise her husband to the throne, whereas her exiled brother Egil (Kārlis Arnolds Avots) plots his personal ascension to energy from close by Iceland.
That may sound like numerous plot to pack into one hour of tv, and… it’s. However Michael and Horatio Hirst deftly plunge us into this world headfirst like a Viking warrior sprinting into the frigid Norwegian Sea. Like Sport of Thrones, Bloodaxe pulls out all of the stops in its opening act to win over its viewers. Which means loads of political intrigue, surprising deaths, gorgeous surroundings, meticulous manufacturing design, lovely actors, and gratuitous intercourse scenes.
The landscapes are significantly gorgeous. Whereas a lot of what is meant to be Norway was filmed in Eire, with rugged Scandinavian mountains added in digitally, Egil’s scenes had been shot on location in Iceland — you simply cannot faux these scorchingly lovely geothermal swimming pools and glaciers. The forged ain’t dangerous to take a look at both. Molyneux resembles a misplaced Hemsworth brother (his breakout function was as a contestant on Australian Large Brother), whereas Miller bears a putting resemblance to Package Harington’s Jon Snow. Life-sized boats and big sprawling units full the expertise. All of it makes Bloodaxe very straightforward on the eyes.
That helps when the plot rapidly will get down into the muck. Whereas Bloodaxe technically hinges on palace intrigue, it is a gritty and dirty world with its personal morals and ethics that really feel alien by Twenty first-century requirements. The core story of a number of factions vying for energy and bracing for all-out civil struggle additionally feels significantly Sport of Thrones-esque. There’s even a number of prophecies and witchy rituals thrown in for good measure, all taking part in out towards the backdrop of a bigger theological battle between Viking paganism with its pantheon of Norse gods and the rising tide of Catholic monotheism. (An attention-grabbing wrinkle: Of the 2, the Vikings had been arguably extra progressive for his or her time, with an egalitarian society that handled women and men equally.)
Your subsequent epic binge
Maybe most attention-grabbing of all, Bloodaxe relies on a real story. The writers are pulling immediately from historical past (as recorded by Icelandic clerics and students a number of hundred years later). This additionally implies that, like with Sport of Thrones, if you happen to’re inquisitive about what finally occurs to Eric and the remainder of the gang, you’ll be able to all the time learn forward and discover out. However why damage the enjoyable?
All eight episodes of Bloodaxe will make landfall on Jan. 20, 2027, with season 2 already in manufacturing. So when you might head to Wikipedia proper now to search out out whether or not Eric Bloodaxe turns into king or not, you’ll have much more enjoyable watching his journey play out onscreen.
And assuming the showrunners get to inform an entire story, Bloodaxe has one huge benefit over Sport of Thrones. This story has been set in stone for over one thousand years, which suggests it is going to be very onerous for Michael and Horatio Hirst to bungle the ending.
Bloodaxe premieres January 20, 2027 on Prime Video.