First Bloodaxe trailer has blood, axes, what more do you want?

In this case, our charismatic and bloodthirsty leader is the titular Erik Bloodaxe, played by Xavier Molyneux. A real dude (whose Wikipedia page has, tragically, been absolutely filled with spoilers for Prime’s new TV show), Bloodaxe wages a messy campaign to become King Of Norway, because people in Michael Hirst shows care more about who rules Norway than we have ever cared about basically anything in our actual lives, ever.

Promo copy for the new series—which debuts next year, on January 20—emphasizes that it’s a bit of a family affair: Hirst is showrunning the series with his son Horatio Hirst, who previously appeared as an actor in four episodes of Vikings: Valhalla. The new series also stars Jessica Madsen (as Bloodaxe’s wife, “Gunnhild, Mother of Kings”), Karlis Arnolds Avots, Levi Miller, Rod Hallett, Alina Tomnikov, Sisse Marie, Rune Temte, and Jesper Christensen. Molyneux, Madsen, Miller, and both Hirsts were on hand at New York Comic-Con this weekend to debut the teaser, and confirm that the series will have all the hemoglobin ‘n’ hatchets a viewer could reasonably desire.