Fans remember Eric Northman as The Northman trailer releases

Seven years after the True Blood series finale, fans remember one of the best characters from the series: Eric Northman, portrayed by the talented Alexander Skarsgard. During his human life, Eric was a Viking prince. Ironically, Skarsgard’s latest role sees him playing…a Viking prince in a movie fittingly titled The Northman.

With the official release of The Northman trailer earlier today, fans can’t help but look back fondly on Skarsgard’s eight years playing Eric and also point out the crazy similarities between his new movie and his old character. The Northman revolves around a Viking prince named Amleth who witnesses his father slaughtered and his kingdom taken at a young age.

Amleth spends his entire life on a mission for revenge against the people who killed his family. Similarly, Eric Northman was helpless to stop a pack of werewolves from killing his family and vowed to avenge his father.

Obviously, we know that The Northman and True Blood are not related. While there are similarities, “Northman” was a very common 10th-century surname because it was an easy way to separate people; it stems from the term “Norseman” or “man from the north.” Still, that hasn’t stopped fans from jokingly calling The Northman an Eric Northman origin story.

The Northman trailer teases epic Viking brutality

With the official trailer finally released, we have plenty of reason to be excited about the upcoming movie, which comes from director Robert Eggers who previously gave us The Witch and The Lighthouse. Willem Dafoe and Anya Taylor-Joy, who starred in Eggers’ two previous films, return to work with the director again for the upcoming revenge epic.

And speaking of strange coincidences, Nicole Kidman stars alongside Skarsgard. Fans of Big Little Lies will recall that the pair worked together in a much more sinister capacity during their time on the HBO series. It’s weird to see Kidman in the trailer for The Northman, knowing she’s supposed to be his mother.

I’m assuming that if we see older Amleth and his mom together, an older actress will portray her in those scenes, as the actors are less than ten years apart in age. Claes Bang, Ethan Hawk and Björk also star.

Overall, it’s an excellent time to be a fan of Norse mythology and the Viking era in general right now between this movie, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s upcoming expansion, and the new Vikings prequel releasing on Netflix soon.

The Northman is coming to theaters in April 2022.

Watch the official trailer for The Northman below: