01Our first pick
The Last Kingdom
5 seasons + a concluding film
Why it belongs on your list
Start here if the best part of Vikings was watching loyalty to a person collide with loyalty to a kingdom. Uhtred, a Saxon raised by Danes, has to negotiate both worlds while pursuing his own home and status.
For fans of Ragnar’s bargains with Ecbert, Ubbe’s settlement ambitions and the friction between belief and survival.
What changes from Vikings
The story stays more tightly attached to one protagonist and the struggle for England. Expect less of Vikings’ wandering family saga and religious visions, and more recurring questions of duty, identity and political compromise.
Where to startStart with season 1, episode 1. Watch all five seasons before The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die; the film is a conclusion, not an entry point.
See title & trailer 02Stay in the franchise
Vikings: Valhalla
3 seasons
Why it belongs on your list
Choose Valhalla when you want Norse voyages, competing faiths and the familiar visual world, but are ready to meet a new generation. Leif, Freydis and Harald carry the story rather than Ragnar’s household.
For fans of Floki’s spiritual questions, Ubbe’s exploration and the tension between pagan and Christian identities.
What changes from Vikings
It takes place around a century later. A familiar setting does not mean the original cast’s relationships or unfinished conversations are continuing. The changed religious balance is part of the point.
Where to startStart at season 1 after the original series. Treat it as a new saga rather than a seventh season of Vikings.
See title & trailer 03For the strategists
Black Sails
4 seasons
Why it belongs on your list
Flint and the struggle over Nassau make a strong next stop if voyages interested you because they changed who could hold power. Rival crews and political bargains give ambition a consequence beyond winning the next fight.
For fans of Ragnar’s ability to sell a vision and Rollo’s choices about belonging, power and betrayal.
What changes from Vikings
This is a pirate drama rather than a Norse or medieval story. Its pleasures are the construction of alliances, arguments about freedom and the gap between a leader’s public legend and private motives.
Where to startStart with season 1 and let the rival factions establish themselves. Choose this for a sustained political adventure, rather than expecting an immediately interchangeable Vikings episode.
See title & trailer 04Court intrigue
Rome
2 seasons
Why it belongs on your list
Choose Rome if Ecbert’s negotiations, the Frankish court and the collision between households and empires were your favorite parts of Vikings. Public events unfold alongside the lives of soldiers and families caught in their wake.
For viewers who want the political density of the Wessex and Paris storylines.
What changes from Vikings
The setting is the late Roman Republic and the emergence of imperial power, centuries before the Viking Age. There is less exploration; politics, patronage and personal dependence do more of the work.
Where to startBegin with season 1. Follow the relationships as carefully as the military victories: who owes whom is often the more important question.
See title & trailer 05A shorter battle-led option
Barbarians
2 seasons
Why it belongs on your list
Arminius, raised in the Roman world, is pulled toward his tribal origins as resistance to Rome gathers. The attraction is a concentrated conflict between upbringing, identity and an empire’s expectations.
For fans of Athelstan’s divided perspective and characters whose allegiance cannot be explained by birthplace alone.
What changes from Vikings
It is set in first-century Germania, not the Viking Age. Choose it for the frontier conflict and cultural divide rather than a Scandinavian family chronicle or a broad historical survey.
Where to startStart with season 1. If the premise grabs you, continue in release order rather than trying to align it with Vikings’ chronology.
German-language historical drama with violent battles; check the available original-audio and subtitle options.
See title & trailer 06Change the tone
Norsemen
3 seasons · roughly half-hour episodes
Why it belongs on your list
Pick Norsemen when the rituals, rivalries and arguments about status are familiar enough to be funny. It turns the practical awkwardness behind grand warrior identities into a village comedy.
For fans who notice the gap between the legend a warrior tells and the messy daily life around it.
What changes from Vikings
Its absurdity is intentional. The humor comes from treating brutality, vanity and petty administration as part of the same social world, so it is a tonal reset rather than another earnest epic.
Where to startBegin with season 1, episode 1, and follow release order. Try an episode when you want a shorter watch instead of committing to another sprawling drama.
See title & trailer 07One-film alternative
The Northman
Feature film · 2022
Why it belongs on your list
A warrior-prince’s revenge against the uncle who took his father’s life and throne offers a compact alternative to another series. Choose it when the attraction is a story experienced through duty, kinship and vengeance.
For fans drawn to the darker consequences of family revenge rather than the pleasures of empire-building.
What changes from Vikings
The film concentrates on one revenge trajectory rather than building the wide network of households that Vikings develops over six seasons. It is an intense evening, not the start of a long companion series.
Where to startWatch as a standalone film. You do not need to watch Vikings or Valhalla first.
See title & trailer