Witness the rise of legendary Scandinavian figures in the official trailer for Netflix‘s upcoming Vikings: Valhalla series. Set over a century after the events of the original Vikings show on The History Channel, Valhalla chronicles the exploits of legendary explorer Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), his fiery and headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), and the ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter). All three characters sail across oceans and push their way through battlefields as the Vikings find themselves locked in two bloody conflicts: one with the English and one amongst themselves due to their conflicting Christian and Pagan beliefs.
“I did a lot of research. I got my Viking history up to the point where I could be stupid,” showrunner and executive producer Jeb Stuart told Collider last month, revealing that he wanted to start Valhalla with the St. Brice’s Day Massacre. “For me, that had some cultural resonance and relevance for me that I felt like you could start a story because we had pagan Vikings at this time and Christian Vikings. And just like in our culture you got the Republicans and Democrats, but when you go to war, when there’s a 9/11, suddenly you forget your ideology you become American and you go out, and you’re one people … We gave the Vikings a reason to stop killing each other over religious differences and become Viking again, and I thought, ‘That’s a very cool place to start a new series.'”
Bradley Freegard (King Canute), Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Olaf Haraldsson), Caroline Henderson (Jarl Haakon), Laura Berlin (Emma of Normandy), David Oakes (Earl of Godwin), Louis Davison (Prince Edmund), Bosco Hogan (King Aethelred II), Asbjørn Krogh Nissen (Jarl Kåre), Pollyanna McIntosh (Aelfgifu of Northampton), and Soren Pilmark (King Sweyn Forkbeard) co-star.
Watch the new trailer below:
Stuart also revealed that another eight episodes are on the way and will serve as a sophomore season, which “will have a different vibe to it,” he teased. “The same characters moving through the story, progresses linearly on that path, but the characters will move and can change, and things like that. But I see it as a continuing story, but at the same time, each season has its own identity to it. When we get to Season 2 hopefully we’ll talk again and you’ll say, ‘Oh, I see exactly what you mean.'”
Michael Hirst, who created the original Vikings project, is attached as an EP alongside organ O’Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, Steve Stark, James Flynn, John Weber, Sherry Marsh and Alan Gasmer, Paul Buccieri.
Vikings: Valhalla arrives on Netflix Tuesday, Feb. 25. The first season is comprised of eight, one-hour episodes.
