The first season of Vikings: Valhalla, Netflix’s follow-up to Vikings on History, is out, and it looks like it’s a hit! Or at least it is among critics, earning a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (The audience score is a rotten 57%, a curious disparity.)
In any case, the first season ended in pretty spectacular fashion, with an all-out war between Christian and pagan Vikings. Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) abandoned his restrained approach to warefare after seeing Liv (Lujza Richter) die at the hands of the ruthless Jarl Olaf (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), unleashing the violent rage his father Erik the Red was known for.
“Yeah, well, for me, like, that was like the element of his father that was in him that he wasn’t accepting,” Sam Corlett told Express. “ came out reactively. I suppose it brings a sense of understanding for why his father is the way he is and what his father may have been through his raids.”
"[It] was certainly an eruption and an expression of held trauma. Although it was a very full on scene, Lujza Richter, who plays Liv, really helped create a very sacred space for me to enter that grieving space with her…To enter, to allow a viciousness to arrive, it was a big day, it was a big day."
I think it’s safe to say that in season 2 Lief will be more in touch with his feelings, for better or worse.
The Vikings will “explore” in Valhalla season 2
Speaking of season 2, showrunner Jeb Stuart talked to Newsweek about what could be on the horizon for our Vikings heroes. “I think in season two, will see the Vikings sort of thrust out of Scandinavia, which is a very interesting piece,” he said. “We know that the Vikings traveled, we know that they went to the New World, but we also know that they traveled to Russia, to the Rus, as they called it, and went down the Dnieper River to the Black Sea.”
"They were great traders. So they went to Constantinople, they went to Egypt, they went through the Middle East. Viking DNA is found almost all over that part of Europe. They went to the Iberian Peninsula and obviously England and Ireland. So you can probably guess that my Vikings are going to get on their boats and explore a little bit."
There’s no release date for Vikings: Valhalla season 2 as yet, but we know that both it and a third season are on the way. Netflix is going all in.
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h/t SyFy Wire