Netflix embarks on 3-season plan for 'Vikings: Valhalla' after massive series debut

Netflix will be in the Vikings: Valhalla business for at least two more years. The streaming giant confirmed Wednesday that it will move forward with two more seasons of the Vikings spinoff series after the show debuted at the top of Netflix's Top 10 ratings last month. 

Valhalla, set 100 years after the original series, debuted on the streamer February 25, and quickly rocketed to the top of Netflix's TV ratings. The show picked up more than 80 million hours of viewing time in its first two days, and went on to top 113 million hours in the last week of February. That placed the show #1 in Netflix's U.S. Top 10, and in the Top 10 in 90 countries worldwide. 

That kind of streaming success was enough for Netflix to confirm the news that the show's second season has already wrapped production in preparation for a premiere sometime next year. Later this spring, showrunner Jeb Stuart will reunite with the cast and crew to being work on Season 3, which will complete Netflix's initial order of 24 episodes spread across three eight-episode seasons. In other words: Netflix bet big on Vikings, and it paid off. 

“Fans of Valhalla -- THANK YOU to the millions of you who have watched (and rewatched!) Season One," Stuart said in a press release. "The numbers have been mind-boggling and beyond my wildest expectations.  I’m thrilled to be able to confirm that we wrapped and are already editing Season Two and that production will start soon on Season Three.  While the storylines for Leif, Freydis, Harald, Olaf, Canute and the rest of our amazing cast are secret, I can say without hesitation that their journeys will be even more epic than what you've seen so far. SKÅL!!!”

After Vikings wrapped up its run on History in 2021, it was clear there was still a larger appetite for more adventures of the famed warriors, and Valhalla quickly emerged as the next chapter in the ongoing saga. Though it features different characters and focuses on a different age of Viking warfare, the series has captured the same tonal resonance with audiences, who've proved willing to follow the show over to Netflix. Now, we know those same audiences will be following the saga until at least the end of 2023, if not longer.