Netflix’s Vikings sequel series might be held up in Irish court

The sixth and final season of Vikings begins airing later this week. Very soon, the show will be over forever, but fans raised a drinking horn upon learning showrunner Michael Hirst would be making a sequel show on Netflix, titled Vikings: Valhalla.

However, according to Deadline, you might not want to raise that ale just yet. The new show, which already has a two-season order, might get held up by a legal dispute before the High Court of Ireland, and even Odin himself may not be able to prevent it.

Here’s the lowdown: although Vikings: Valhalla will be set 100 years after Vikings and follow all-new characters, in the real world, the series will still be produced by many of the same companies behind the original show, including Octagon Films. Berlin-based company W2 Filmproduktion, which has a 49% stake in Octagon, alleges that Vikings producers Morgan O’Sullivan and James Flynn — who are Octagon shareholders — diverted €40M out of Octagon, money that presumably should have been distributed to W2. Now, W2 may seek an injunction stopping production of Valhalla until these allegations are addressed.

W2 contends that O’Sullivan and Flynn, who strongly deny the allegations, will follow a similar pattern on Valhalla, diverting funds from the series without distributing W2’s proper share. W2 alleges that it only found out about Valhalla through the media.

The case is set to reconvene on January 31. Netflix, Octagon Films and History have yet to comment. Let’s hope things don’t get so ugly that we can’t have more Vikings goodness.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels