Anya Taylor-Joy's R-Rated 'Vikings' Replacement Officially Conquers Streaming

Few stars have had as much to do this year as Anya Taylor-Joy, who has headlined some of the biggest movies in theaters as well as some of the most-watched TV shows on streaming. For her opening act in 2026, Taylor-Joy reprised her role as Princess Peach in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which was the first feature film of 2026 to hit $1 billion at the global box office. She then returned to Apple TV to star in one of the best crime thriller shows of the year, Lucky, alongside Timothy Olyphant — part of what made ATJ’s return to Apple TV so exciting is that she previously starred in The Gorge for the platform. She’ll finish the year by headlining Dune: Part Three alongside Timothée Chalamet, but she can also be seen starring opposite Chris Evans in Sacrifice on Netflix.

While still only 30 years old, Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the biggest up-and-coming stars in Hollywood. She may not have as many credits to her name as some other stars in her same generation, but she has some hits that span back over 10 years. One of the most underrated movies of her career came back in 2022 when she teamed up with Alexander Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman for The Northman, which was written and directed by Robert Eggers. If Eggers’ name sounds familiar, it’s because he also wrote and directed other gothic and ritualistic horror movies like The Witch and Nosferatu. The Northman is streaming exclusively on Netflix right now, but the film also recently passed one month on VOD charts for platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV.

Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.

Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.

• He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
• Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
• The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
• You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.

Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.

• But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
• Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
• Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
• You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.

Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.

• You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
• The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
• Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
• Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.

Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.

• The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
• You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
• That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
• It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.

Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.

• You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
• Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
• Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
• Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.

What Is ‘The Northman’ About?

In addition to Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Northman also stars Ethan Hawke as King Aurvandil War-Raven, Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, and Jack Walsh as Hallur Freymundur. Eggers spent $90 million on the production of The Northman, but the film failed to earn this back at the box office, grossing only $75 million during its entire run. The official synopsis for The Northman, which earned scores of 90% from critics and 69% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, reads as follows:

“The Northman is a 2022 American epic period dark fantasy action film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth from Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, the film follows Amleth, an exiled Viking prince who sets out on a quest to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of his uncle at the height of the Viking Age.”

“The Northman is a 2022 American epic period dark fantasy action film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth from Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, the film follows Amleth, an exiled Viking prince who sets out on a quest to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of his uncle at the height of the Viking Age.”

Check out The Northman on Netflix and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Anya Taylor-Joy’s future projects.

The Northman