Although Prime Video has always historically struggled to match the appeal of HBO’s Game of Thrones, the streaming service has a good shot at pulling this off with the arrival of one upcoming 2027 series. Few shows have impacted TV history quite as dramatically as HBO’s Game of Thrones, an eight-season adaptation of author George RR. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire saga.
While The Walking Dead‘s success and the first seasons of American Horror Story pushed the boundaries of TV censorship, Game of Thrones brought unprecedented levels of gore, nudity, and profanity to the small screen. Where shows like Boardwalk Empire and The Pacific had seen HBO experiment with spending movie-sized budgets on small-screen productions, the budget for Game of Thrones season 1 was by far the biggest ever committed to a single TV series.
In the decade and a half since Game of Thrones season 1 debuted, every single major streaming service and cable channel has made an attempt to replicate the show’s success. While Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power is the streaming service’s most expensive production ever, its Critical Role shows The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein replicate the R-rated, mature appeal of HBO’s Martin adaptation. However, it is 2027’s upcoming Bloodaxe that could prove to be the streaming service’s real answer to Game of Thrones.
Bloodaxe Is Prime Video’s Epic Viking Series Releasing In January 2027
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Although Prime Video’s The Dark Tower adaptation will make everything from The Rings of Power to Bloodaxe look small, it will still be some time before viewers get to see that dark fantasy series arrive on screens. In contrast, the Vikings follow-up Bloodaxe is arriving a lot sooner. Set in the 900s, Bloodaxe focuses on the story of the eponymous real-life Viking warrior and political figure Eric Bloodaxe.
Played by Xavier Molyneux, Bloodaxe and his wife, Jessica Madsen’s Gunnhild, battle various rival kings and tribes for control of Norway. This historical epic’s cast also includes Pan’s Levi Miller and The Last Kingdom‘s Rune Tente, while The Tudors producer Michael Hirst previously worked on Vikings before moving on to Prime Video’s Bloodaxe. Thus, the show has already earned understandable comparisons to both that earlier series and The Last Kingdom.
As a grounded historical drama, Bloodaxe will not feature any of the high fantasy tropes of Game of Thrones or its spinoffs, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. However, this may surprisingly work in the show’s favor. One of Prime Video’s biggest Rings of Power competitors, The Wheel of Time, was cut short after only three seasons, and its cancellation was blamed by some fans on the show’s large budget.
Bloodaxe Is Already Renewed For Season 2
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While historical drama is not exactly inexpensive to produce, shows like Bloodaxe are likely to be less costly than CGI-heavier high fantasy efforts like The Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones. This may explain why, compared to high fantasy shows like Netflix’s Cursed, The Wheel of Time, or HBO’s His Dark Materials, all of which released between one and three seasons, Vikings lasted six seasons and spawned a three-season spinoff.
Meanwhile, The Last Kingdom lasted five seasons and a spinoff movie, 2023’s Seven Kings Must Die. The fact that Prime Video’s Bloodaxe has already been renewed for a second season points, once again, to just how much confidence the streaming service has in the upcoming series and its potential longevity.
While the dragons and magic of high fantasy shows can be enthralling, it can also be expensive to bring to life onscreen. In contrast, Bloodaxe could become Prime Video’s best Game of Thrones replacement in years by avoiding these elements in favor of straightforward historical action thrills.
Bloodaxe
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Xavier Molyneux
Erik Bloodaxe
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Jessica Madsen
Gunnhild
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Levi Miller
Haakon
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Kārlis Arnolds Avots
Egil
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