With a primal battle cry and the cold glint of sharpened steel, Netflix is finally unleashing the salty Vikings spinoff, Vikings: Valhalla, this week, and we’ve got the complete series guide to prep you for all the beauty, blood, and brutality to come.
Valhalla was first announced back in November 2019 as an offshoot of the Emmy Award-winning Vikings show, which aired on the History Channel from 2013 to 2020 for six seasons. Let’s raise a toast to the old gods and take a valiant swing at what Vikings: Valhalla and its new era of Norse warriors is all about.
What is the Vikings: Valhalla release date on Netflix?
This savage historical drama spawned from History Channel’s flagship Vikings series lands exclusively on the Netflix streaming platform Friday, February 25, with all eight episodes in tow.
What is the Vikings: Valhalla release time?
Netflix usually releases its new shows and movies at midnight Pacific and 3 a.m. Eastern, which is when we should expect Vikings: Valhalla to debut on the streaming platform on February 25.
Who created Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla?
Vikings’ original writer/creator Michael Hirst (The Tudors, Elizabeth) will act as executive producer/showrunner for Valhalla in collaboration with MGM Television. Veteran Hollywood screenwriter Jeb Stuart developed and co-wrote this new series. His expertise in penning such action classics as The Fugitive should deliver fierce authenticity and dynamic clashes for this spinoff.
Behind the camera, director Steve Saint Leger (Vikings, Barbarians) helmed three episodes of Season 1. Niels Arden Oplev (Mr. Robot, Under The Dome) and Hannah Quinn (The Winx Saga, The Stranger) will also share directorial duties on Vikings: Valhalla’s debut outing.
What is the Vikings: Valhalla plot?
The saga begins in the early 11th century while we’re introduced to the legendary lives of famous historical Vikings Leif Eriksson, Freydis Eriksdotter, and Harald Hardrada, as well as the Norman King, known as William the Conqueror.
Valhalla’s storm erupts more than 100 years after the events in the main Vikings run on the History Channel. The sun is setting on the heroic age of the Vikings as the Kingdom of England remains immovable when confronted with the threat of Scandinavian invaders. In the aftermath of King Edward the Confessor’s demise, a trio of scheming lords vies for the legal right to the English throne as the nation’s future is forever changed.
Is there a Vikings: Valhalla trailer?
Your wish is our command! Netflix released the final trailer for Vikings: Valhalla on February 7, and you can witness all the sea-spray, slicing swords, and Christian versus Pagan action below:
How is Vikings: Valhalla connected to the original Vikings series?
One major connection between the two shows is its Emerald Isle filming location at Ashford Studios, Wicklow, Ireland. It is the identical destination where the flagship Vikings series was shot.
Regarding Valhalla’s style, landmarks, and tone, Hirst recently elaborated on that topic with Collider, explaining the extent of the show’s synergy with Vikings:
“What Jeb [Stuart] does actually is he pays attention to the mythology of the Vikings. So whenever they meet in the great hall in Kattegat, and of course they talk about the great eras who used to sit in the same hall at the same table, and they were Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, and Bjorn Ironside, and Ivar the Boneless, who are now mythic characters even within the show, even within Vikings: Valhalla. That's a really great connection and effect. It gives ready-made histories to the new show. So you don't need to know who Ragnar is to watch the new show. But it enriches the show and it hopefully will make people go back and find out, 'Well who are these people they keep talking about? Was Ragnar so great? Why are these people mythic characters?' So everything connects in a useful, and interesting, and fascinating way.”
Who is in the Vikings: Valhalla cast?
Valhalla boasts grandly of an epic cast, which includes:
- Sam Corlett (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Leif Eriksson
- Frida Gustavsson (The Witcher) as Leif’s sister Freydis Eriksdotter
- Leo Suter (The Liberator) as Viking berserker Harald Sigurdsson
- Johannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Cursed) as Harald’s half-brother, Olaf Haraldson
- Bradley Freegard (Keeping Faith) as King Canute, the King of Denmark
- Laura Berlin (Breaking Even) as Emma of Normandy
- David Oakes (The Borgias) as Earl Godwin
- Caroline Henderson (Christmas Star) as Jarl Haakon
- Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead) as Queen Ælfgifu of Denmark
Is the original Vikings cast in the Netflix spinoff?
One of the most memorable Vikings actors, John Kavanagh, will reprise his role as the Ancient Seer. In addition to Kavanagh, other familiar Vikings faces appear in Valhalla in both recurring characters and new ones, including Karen Connell, Bosco Hogan (Vikings’ Abbot of Lindisfarne), and Gavan O’Connor Duffy (Vikings’ King Frodo).
Will there be a Vikings: Valhalla Season 2?
That’s a resounding YES shouted from icy Icelandic fjords! And not just Season 2 is coming, but Season 3 as well. Hirst previously announced that the Valhalla narrative would unfold over a minimum of three seasons consisting of 24 individual chapters. We applaud that commitment in an age of “one-and-done” debut seasons. So rest assured that after an initial weekend binge (or slow appreciation of the premiere season), viewers can anticipate a wealth of new adventures.
Production of the sophomore season finished up in November 2021, and we should see the next run of eight episodes sometime in late 2022 at the earliest but more likely in early 2023.
Vikings: Valhalla comes ashore February 25 on Netflix.
