Bloodaxe first look sends the Vikings creator back to the sagas
Bloodaxe, Michael and Horatio Hirst's eight-episode Prime Video saga about Erik Bloodaxe and Gunnhild, has first-look images and a season two already shooting. The real history makes it a sibling war, and that is the show to make.
Bloodaxe, the new Norse saga from Vikings creator Michael Hirst, has its first look out, and I have already cleared space in the early 2027 binge calendar. Prime Video released first images on Monday for the eight-episode first season, which Michael Hirst runs with his son Horatio Hirst. It stars Xavier Molyneux as Erik Bloodaxe and Jessica Madsen as Gunnhild, Mother of Kings, and a second season is already in production in Ireland. That is a lot of confidence for a show nobody has seen yet.
This is a first look read, so no reviews, no episodes, and no plot beyond the official logline. The good news for spoiler-phobes is that the real Erik died in 954, so the history is fair game.
Prime Video's announcement, posted on The Futon Critic, says all eight episodes of season one will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. The logline has Erik and Gunnhild fighting for the throne of Norway while fierce rivals, shifting loyalties, and bloody betrayals tear the country apart, with the ruthless kings of other Scandinavian countries and a powerful English ruler pulled in. Prime Video's own copy promises an "utterly magical new Norse Saga," which is a fun word choice for a show about a man whose nickname has the word blood in it.
There is no date yet. TV Insider's first look gallery slots it for early 2027 and notes the team is heading to New York Comic Con for an early sneak peek. It also gives us the character names that go with the cast list, which is where this gets fun for anybody who likes reading the history homework before the show.
Vikings got its hooks in with a farmer who wanted more. Bloodaxe starts with a king who already has it and might not keep it.
Who is who in Bloodaxe, and what history says about them
| Character | Played by | The historical record, in short |
|---|---|---|
| Erik Bloodaxe | Xavier Molyneux | King of Norway around 930 to 935, later king in Northumbria in 948 and again from 952 to 954, killed at Stainmore in 954. |
| Gunnhild, Mother of Kings | Jessica Madsen | Erik's wife. The later sagas generally paint her as an evil witch. Erik's sons later made themselves kings in Norway. |
| King Harald Fairhair | Jesper Christensen | Erik's father, credited by the sagas with unifying Norway. Modern historians think his kingdom was smaller than the legend. |
| Haakon the Good | Levi Miller | Erik's younger brother. Raised at King Athelstan's court in England, he came home with the backing of Norway's nobles and pushed Erik out. |
| Egil | Karlis Arnolds Avots | Prime Video has not described the role. Egil's saga is one of the old texts that tells Erik's story, so saga readers will have a guess. |
| Gorm and Thyra | Rune Temte and Sisse Marie | No role details yet beyond the names in the first look. |
| Greta | Alina Tomnikov | No role details yet. |
The history column is built from Britannica's entry on Erik I and historian Gareth Williams's BBC History piece on Eric Bloodaxe. Treat it as background, not a spoiler. Hirst played loose with the timeline on Vikings, and I fully expect him to do it again.
Here is the detail I cannot stop thinking about. Williams writes that Erik secured the succession by killing his brothers, and that one Latin text calls him fratris interfector, brother-killer. His read is that the blood in Bloodaxe may be about family, not battle. If the Hirsts lean into that, this is not a raiding show. It is a succession drama where the siblings are the battlefield, with Haakon as the brother who got away and came back with an English king's blessing. That is a much better engine for eight episodes than another shield wall.
The best guess for that "powerful English ruler" is sitting right there in the history books, and his name is Athelstan.
Which brings me to the English ruler in the logline. Prime Video has not named him. History does point at Athelstan, who fostered Haakon and, in the sagas, welcomed Erik to England afterward. Vikings fans will remember a very different Athelstan in that show, which is either a fun echo or a headache, depending on how literally you take your sagas.
The cast is a nice mix of fresh faces and people you will clock right away. Madsen comes over from Bridgerton, and Jesper Christensen as the old king is exactly the kind of casting that makes a throne room feel heavy. Season two adds House of the Dragon's Kieran Bew, Gard Løkke, Melina Åkerman, Sebastian Bull, and George Burgess, per TV Insider.
If you are hungry for something in this mood right now, our TV desk has been tracking AMC+'s folklore thriller Yaga and Legacy of Spies' first looks, a very different kind of period piece. Bloodaxe is the one I would bet on for a full-weekend binge, mostly because Hirst knows how to end an episode so you hit next.
What I want from the NYCC panel: a date, a trailer, and some sign of how much of Gunnhild's saga reputation the show keeps. The witch label is the most interesting thing about her in the old texts, and Madsen looks like she came to play.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
Original commentary based on public reporting. Not a reprint. Editorial standards.