Original story: Boy! The gods are speaking, and they might have found a new Kratos. Per Deadline, Dave Bautista is in talks to replace Ryan Hurst as Kratos in Prime Video’s upcoming adaptation of God Of War. In a situation that’s probably familiar to former WWE Champion Bautista, Hurst suffered a torn bicep while performing a stunt in June. The injury, which requires surgery with a lengthy recovery time, occurred roughly four months into the shoot. Production on God Of War was paused and is expected to restart in Vancouver this October.
The show follows Kratos and his son, Atreus (Callum Vinson), on an epic quest to spread the ashes of Faye, Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother. While Bautista’s casting would make a lot of sense, considering his massive size and acting talent, Hurst, who gained 40 pounds for the role, had experience with the game, providing Thor’s voice and movements in God Of Ragnarök. However, Bautista is probably already bulked up, considering he’s currently shooting the Highlander reboot.
The recasting does provide the production with a mulligan. When Amazon shared its first-look image from the series, a photo of Kratos (Hurst) and Atreus, fans immediately expressed dismay because it didn’t look quite right or something. Honestly, it looks like God Of War, but sometimes even the smartest X users and YouTubers will feign outrage because that’s what the algorithm thrives on. They’re also apparently mad about the upcoming game God Of War Laufey, which takes place at the same time as 2018’s God Of War and Ragnarök and follows Faye as the lead protagonist of the game that bears her name. Still, players are mad that Kratos isn’t the lead. It’s always something, so it’s probably better to ignore all that, which showrunner Ronald D. Moore (For All Mankind, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) knows already. You don’t make a career in nerd spaces without learning to shut out the knee-jerk complaints. Either way, Moore and the production will have a second chance at a first impression once the new Kratos is in place.
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