Any show that aims to blend Vikings and Game of Thrones is setting a high bar for itself, but that doesn’t mean that Prime Video’s upcoming historical drama can’t live up to this lofty promise. When HBO committed the biggest budget in TV history to the cable network’s ambitious adaptation of author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire saga back in 2011, there is no way their top brass could have known the knock-on effect this decision would have on TV history.
15 years later, shows like Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power might have made the scope of Game of Thrones look comparatively small, but there is no denying the reality that these bigger series wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the record-smashing global success of HBO’s show. From Prime Video’s Critical Role show The Mighty Nein to Netflix’s The Witcher franchise and Arcane, to Starz’ Outlander and even AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, R-rated mature fantasy shows with big budgets and lavish production design are now an industry staple.
While HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot hopes to make PG-rated, family-friendly fantasy shows an even bigger hot property in years to come, Prime Video is taking another shot at replicating the success of Game of Thrones from a different angle. Many shows that arrived in the wake of the HBO hit’s success, such as Black Sails, Vikings, and The Last Kingdom, dropped the show’s fantasy elements in favor of straightforward R-rated historical drama. The upcoming Prime Video show Bloodaxe is set to revive this approach, and it could prove to be a masterpiece.
Prime Video’s Bloodaxe Already Looks Very Promising
Set in the 10th century, Bloodaxe chronicles the rise and fall of the real-life Viking warrior Eric Bloodaxe, played by Xavier Molyneux. Bridgerton star Jessica Madsen will play Erik’s wife Gunnhild, and the warrior’s journey to become the king of Norway will shape the story of the show. With an ensemble cast that includes Better Watch Out’s breakout star Levi Miller, Finnish Moominvalley star Alina Tomnikov, and The Last Kingdom’s Rune Tente, Bloodaxe is already shaping up to be a thrilling historical epic.
Producer Michael Hirst is best known for his work on Vikings and The Tudors, but the movies Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age prove that the screen veteran has a long history of making history into compelling drama for mainstream audiences. Already, Bloodaxe is earning comparisons to the critically acclaimed The Last Kingdom, and with a second season renewal already confirmed, viewers can be mercifully sure that the series won’t be cut short before its plot can get going in earnest.
Hirst was also an executive producer on the Vikings spinoff Vikings: Valhalla, and the upcoming show made the canny decision to shoot in Ireland much like its History Channel predecessor. Both Vikings and Game of Thrones chose Ireland as a major filming location, much like Robert Eggers’ ambitious historical action epic The Northman, so Bloodaxe’s stunning vistas will likely be able to match the memorable locations of those earlier classics.
What Bloodaxe Must Do To Overtake Vikings
Of course, it won’t be easy for Bloodaxe to outdo the impressive critical reception of Vikings, nor to earn the massive fan base of Game of Thrones. To live up to Hirst’s earlier show, Bloodaxe will need to laser in on Erik’s story, eschewing the immersive, polyphonic narrative structure of the earlier show. Vikings was a sprawling epic that borrowed the many perspectives of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
As such, Bloodaxe would benefit from being a tighter character study as this could give the show a unique feel that differentiates it from its predecessor. Fortunately, the very fact that Bloodaxe gets its title from the show’s complex antihero proves that the Vikings followup is already setting the stage to drop the multi-perspective approach of Game of Thrones in favor of a more personal, precise storytelling style.
- Release Date
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2013 – 2020-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video, History
- Directors
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Ciaran Donnelly, Ken Girotti, Jeff Woolnough, Steve Saint Leger, Helen Shaver, Daniel Grou, David Frazee, David Wellington, Johan Renck, Stephen St. Leger, Ben Bolt, Kari Skogland, Kelly Makin, Paddy Breathnach, Sarah Harding, Katheryn Winnick
