Bloodaxe sets a January premiere on Prime Video, with season two already filming

Bloodaxe, the new Viking saga from Vikings creator Michael Hirst, will premiere on Prime Video on January 20, 2027. By then its second season will have been in production for six months. Amazon renewed the show in June, seven months before anyone could watch the first episode.

The date and a first teaser were revealed at New York Comic Con on Friday. The series follows the rise of Norse raider Erik Bloodaxe (Xavier Molyneux) and his wife Gunnhild, Mother of Kings (Jessica Madsen), in their fight for the throne of Norway. For Australian viewers there is a familiar face in the main cast: Levi Miller, who played Peter Pan in Pan, plays Haakon, Erik's younger half-brother.

Season two came before season one

The production timeline runs backwards from how television usually works:

• March 6, 2025: reports surface that Michael Hirst and his son Horatio are developing the series for Prime Video. It is later ordered to series.
• June 2, 2025: season one starts filming in Wicklow, Ireland.
• June 16, 2026: Amazon renews Bloodaxe for a second season.
• July 2026: season two starts filming in Ireland, with MGM Television producing.
• Early October 2026: more season two cast is announced, including Maddy Ambus, Steven Brand and Lasse Steen.
• January 20, 2027: season one premieres.

By premiere night, more than 19 months will have passed since cameras first rolled. Viewers will meet Erik and Gunnhild while the cast is already well into their second year.

Same creator, same king, different actor

Bloodaxe is Hirst's third series set in the Viking Age. He created and was lead writer on History's Vikings and executive produced Netflix's Vikings: Valhalla. That history produces an odd overlap.

Erik Bloodaxe's father was the historical Harald Fairhair, the first king of all Norway. Harald was already a character in Vikings, where Peter Franzén played him across several seasons. In Bloodaxe he returns as the ageing king, now played by Jesper Christensen. The same writer is putting the same historical king on screen for the second time, with a different actor and a different age.

The family business extends behind the camera too. Horatio Hirst, Michael's son and co-creator, played Bishop Grimketel in four episodes of Vikings: Valhalla. Bloodaxe is his writing debut. Father and son are co-creators, showrunners, writers and executive producers.

Who's in it

• Xavier Molyneux as Erik Bloodaxe, the Viking warrior whose rise to power drives the series.
• Jessica Madsen as Gunnhild, known as the Mother of Kings.
• Levi Miller as Haakon, Erik's younger half-brother. Miller, born in 2002, is an Australian actor known for Pan (2015), Better Watch Out (2016) and A Wrinkle in Time (2018). He joined the cast in June 2025.
• Rod Hallett as Athelstan, King of Wessex, the "powerful English ruler" in Prime Video's synopsis.
• Rune Temte and Sisse Marie as Gorm and Thyra, King and Queen of Denmark.
• Karlis Arnolds Avots as Egil, a poet seeking revenge for his family.
• Alina Tomnikov as Greta, a shield-maiden who can secretly transform into the Seer.

The supporting cast fills out Erik's family and its rivals. Marc Rissmann plays Greycloak, Erik's eldest brother. Arthur McBain plays Sigrod, another brother. Kai Luke Brümmer plays Strut-Harald, Gunnhild's brother. Mads Reuther plays the Jarl of Hladir, an ally of Haakon, which puts Miller's character at the centre of a faction of his own.

Season two adds Maddy Ambus (The Return of Stanley Atwell, Utopia), Steven Brand (Saw X, The Scorpion King) and Lasse Steen (The Promised Land, What Lies Between Us). Prime Video's synopsis promises a kingdom consumed by chaos, with the ruthless kings of other Scandinavian countries drawn into the war.

Frederick E.O. Toye is set to direct the opening episodes. Executive producers alongside the Hirsts include Morgan O'Sullivan, Steve Stark, Arturo Interian, John Weber and Sheila Hockin.

The teaser shown in New York is the series' first-look footage. Prime Video has now fixed the launch for January 20, a Wednesday, which leaves the show three months of marketing runway before the first episode drops.

What is still unknown

• Episode count. Deadline's report doesn't say how many episodes the first season has.
• A season two date. It is filming, but no window has been given.
• How big Haakon's part is. Miller is in the main cast, but the synopsis centres on Erik and Gunnhild.

Michael Hirst put Harald Fairhair on screen once already. In January he does it again, while the season after that is already being filmed.