Netflix confirms Vikings: Valhalla season 2 release date – and new characters

Harald (Leo Suter) in Vikings Valhalla
(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has confirmed the release date for Vikings: Valhalla season 2, with creator Jeb Stuart also revealing more about the show’s new locations and characters.

As per Netflix, Vikings: Valhalla returns on January 12, 2023. With how Kattegat fell in the first season, it should come as no surprise that the show’s trio of heroes – Leif, Freydis, and Harald –  have been scattered to the winds.

"The whole concept of season 2 is that we take these three heroes who are in Scandinavia and blow them out of their comfort zones," Stuart told Netflix’s Tudum. "Season 2 for Harald and Leif is a road trip: It’s Thelma and Louise on the Dnieper River. The two of them will begin this incredible journey. Freydís has to go to Pomerania, which is a very difficult environment."

With those new locations (Pomerania was a region that is now Poland and Germany, geography fans), comes new characters. Netflix has introduced the first batch of kings and rulers who will stand alongside, and possibly against, the show’s leads.

There’s Harekr (Bradley James), "the ruler of Jómsborg, a sort of legendary Viking place where the uber-pagan Vikings lived." Stuart describes him as "a great warrior" but warned that "he’s got a bull’s-eye on his back for any of our pagan hunters, like Olaf."

Joining the cast is Hayat Kamille, who plays Mariam, "an astronomer who’s stuck in Novgorod." Marcin Doronciski plays Olaf and Harald’s "tough love" uncle King Yaroslav the Wise, while Sofya Lebedeva is Elena, the daughter of a Russian noble.

Vikings: Valhalla, then, is set to go further afield than Scandinavia. We’ll see how far the journey takes Leif, Freydis, and Harald in January.

For more from the streamer, check out our list of the best Netflix shows you should be watching right now.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.