Production on Amazon Prime Video’s live-action God of War series officially began this week in Vancouver, and the studio dropped the first image of Ryan Hurst as Kratos alongside Callum Vinson as his young son Atreus.
For a fanbase that has waited years for this to happen, the photo landed exactly the way it was intended.
Hurst, who is best known to television audiences as Opie in Sons of Anarchy and Beta in The Walking Dead, did not come to this role as an outsider.
He previously voiced Thor in the 2022 game God of War: Ragnarök, earning a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the process.
When his casting as Kratos was announced in January, he responded on social media with a statement that went straight to the point:
“I used to play as him. Now I get to be him. Grateful to pick up the axe, and honored by the fans who made this story legendary.”
Christopher Judge, the actor who has voiced Kratos in the games since the 2018 reboot gave his blessing in terms that were hard to misread.
Speaking at Fan Expo in New Orleans, Judge said:
“All I wanted was for whoever was cast as Kratos was that they love, cherish, and respect Kratos as much as we all do. And with Ryan Hurst, they have done that. It’s a magnificent choice. Not only a great actor, but a great person and a gamer who actually played God of War since its inception. So, kudos. Kill it, Ryan.”
Judge’s Kratos, gravel-voiced, grief-stricken, is the version most audiences will bring with them to the show.
The creative team behind the series is experienced. Ronald D. Moore, the showrunner on Battlestar Galactica, Outlander, and For All Mankind, is writing and running the room. Frederick E.O. Toye, who won an Emmy for his work on Shōgun and directed multiple episodes of both The Boys and Fallout, is directing the first two episodes.
Cory Barlog, the director of the 2018 God of War game that redefined what the franchise could be, is an executive producer on the series.
What Is The God Of War Show About?
The story follows the events of the last two games. Kratos and Atreus journey across the nine Norse realms to spread the ashes of Faye, wife and mother.
Through that journey, Kratos tries to teach his son how to survive as a god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be something resembling human.
The father-son dynamic is the entire engine of the show, the same way it was the entire engine of the 2018 game, which sold more than 23 million copies.
Examining The God Of War Cast
The full cast is substantial. Mandy Patinkin plays Odin. Ed Skrein is Baldur. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, who appeared in Severance, takes on Thor. Teresa Palmer plays Sif. Max Parker joins as Heimdall.
Alastair Duncan reprises his role as Mimir directly from the games. Danny Woodburn and Jeff Gulka play Brok and Sindri, the dwarven blacksmith brothers who became fan favorites in both games.
Callum Vinson as Atreus is a ten-year-old actor who previously voiced Piglet and has been cast as young Jason Voorhees in the upcoming Crystal Lake series.
Amazon greenlit the series with a straight two-season order, which is not how most shows get made. It reflects the studio’s confidence in the IP and, more likely, the lessons learned from Fallout.
That show debuted on Prime Video in April 2024, pulled 65 million viewers in its first 16 days, and became the second most-watched series in the platform’s history.
It also revived commercial interest in the game franchise, with Bethesda reporting a 160 percent increase in player numbers on Steam after the show launched.
The Last of Us did the same thing on HBO a year earlier.
The God of War show does not yet have a premiere date. Are you excited for the show?
