Is The Northman About Eric Northman from True Blood?

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One of the movies that fans are excited to catch this month is The Northman, which is the newest Viking movie that tells the tale of the people of the northern part of Europe. The movie tells the story of the northman named Amleth, a Viking prince whose father was betrayed and murdered by his uncle. Because of how similar the story of The Northman is to the history of a certain character from the TV series True Blood, some people think that it’s a prequel story. So, is The Northman about Eric Northman from True Blood?

The Northman is unlikely the prequel story of Eric Northman despite the similarity in their names and even though The Northman also features Alexander Skarsgard as the actor of the main character. That said, we are not dismissing the possibility that the two stories may be connected.

It is likely that the similarities between The Northman and Eric Northman’s story in True Blood are coincidences. Nevertheless, there still could be a possibility that the two universes are connected because the movie isn’t out to disprove that theory yet. That said, let’s look at what we know about The Northman and Erick Northman from True Blood.

Is The Northman Prequel To True Blood TV Show?

The Northman is one of the most highly anticipated movies that aren’t Marvel or DC, as we get to see a story that tells the tale of Vikings, especially now that people are becoming more and more interested in these Scandinavian people of old. And considering that this is a Viking movie, there is a good reason to believe that The Northman is going to be full of action scenes and intense moments that are going to keep people at the edge of their seats.

That said, when The Northman was announced, different people around the world went on to believe that this movie could be a prequel to a popular TV series entitled True Blood, which aired from 2008 to 2014.

Basically, the story of True Blood revolves around vampires and how they have become known to the world and how people have been adjusting to their existence as they drink artificial blood called True Blood. The series became a hit because it not only talked about vampires but also other mythical creatures like werewolves and fairies.

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Of course, there’s a good reason why people are wondering whether or not The Northman is a prequel to True Blood, as we will explain later. So, in that regard, is The Northman the prequel story to True Blood?

Robert Eggers, the director of the movie, is yet to say anything regarding the connection between The Northman and True Blood. However, based on the synopsis of the movie, it doesn’t seem like it’s a prequel story to True Blood.

That’s because The Northman, if anything, is more like Shakespeare’s Hamlet because this was the story that inspired the all-time great playwright to write Hamlet. The Northman follows the story of a Scandinavian prince who was betrayed by his uncle when his father was murdered in cold blood. As such, he had to flee his kingdom and become a Viking before he went on a journey to reclaim what was rightfully his and to take his vengeance on his uncle.

In that regard, it doesn’t seem like it’s connected to the vampire story of True Blood. But there is a good reason why fans believe that the two stories are connected as we talk about this connection next.

Is The Northman About Eric Northman?

Again, fans believe that there is a connection between The Northman and True Blood because of one factor—Alexander Skarsgard. And the common denominator between the two movies goes beyond just the actor playing a major role in the movie.

Alexander Skarsgard was able to make a name for himself in True Blood when he played one of the main characters named Eric Northman (yes, you’re probably already thinking about the connection right now). Eric is one of the three main characters of the series and is a high-ranking vampire due to his influence and age.

As True Blood continued, Eric Northman’s history was revealed. He used to be a Viking prince that was on the verge of death right around a thousand years before the events of True Blood. However, a vampire named Godric found him as he lay dying and offered him a chance to become a vampire.

Meanwhile, in The Northman, Amlet is the main character and is also portrayed by Alexander Skarsgard. This is where people see the connection as the main character of The Northman is played by one of the main characters of True Blood and has the same Scandinavian roots. On top of that, Eric Northman’s name is eerily similar to the title of The Northman. So, is The Northman about Eric Northman?

It is unlikely that The Northman is about Eric Northman because of the fact that The Northman is about Amlet, which is the basis for Shakespeare’s Hamlet story. As such, The Northman is more historical in its approach to storytelling than it is supernatural. This means that The Northman could be grounded on realism instead of telling the story of a world where fantastic creatures like vampires exist.

In that sense, it is probably just pure coincidence that The Northman happens to share the same name and actor as True Blood’s Eric Northman. That means that The Northman probably isn’t about Eric Northman at all.

Are The Northman And True Blood Connected In Any Way?

At this point, we are inclined to say that there are no connections between The Northman and True Blood other than the coincidence that we mentioned above. The only connection they have is Alexander Skarsgard and the name “Northman.” Other than that, there are no similarities between them.

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Of course, if The Northman was actually connected to True Blood, it would’ve been marketed as such because of the fact that there are still plenty of True Blood fans out there despite the fact that the final episode aired nearly a decade ago. It would have been a wasted opportunity for the marketing team behind the movie to not market the movie as a True Blood prequel had it actually been connected to the TV series.

However, we are not dismissing in any way the possibility that The Northman could be connected to True Blood. It could be possible that the ending of The Northman is what will lead to Eric Northman’s near-death state in the origin story that was shown in True Blood.

Still, we are inclined to believe that anything similar between The Northman and True Blood remains coincidental at best. That means that you should watch The Northman as it is without expecting any connection between it and True Blood.

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