Former professional wrestler Dave Bautista is officially taking over the role of Kratos in Prime Video’s upcoming live-action video game series adaptation, God of War, replacing Ryan Hurst after he suffered an injury on set.
As reported by Variety, this confirmation comes after the 57-year-old was announced to be in talks for the role earlier in August, and follows after Hurst (who played Thor in the 2022 game God of War Ragnarök) suffered a torn bicep on set that required surgery, which would have delayed production into 2027.
Now that Bautista has officially been cast, production is expected to resume in the coming weeks, with all of Hurst’s previous scenes needing to be reshot. Still, the former wrestler’s excellent physique means that he doesn’t need as much prep time to take on such a physically intensive role as Kratos, with previous reports also stating that the star had bulked up to shoot his scenes for the upcoming Highlander reboot with Henry Cavill, which will no doubt work to his favour for God of War.
Helmed by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), with Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun, Fallout) tapped to direct the first two episodes, God of War has been given a two-season order, with both seasons being shot back-to-back. The series will follow the plot of the two Santa Monica Studios games, and see Kratos and Atreus (Callum Vinson) embarking on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye.
Co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, God of War’s cast will also include Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri and Danny Woodburn as Brok.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
