Dave Bautista Officially Set to Play Kratos in GOD OF WAR Series

Dave Bautista is picking up the Leviathan Axe. The former WWE star and Guardians of the Galaxy actor has officially closed his deal to play Kratos in Prime Video’s live-action God of War series, taking over the role from Ryan Hurst after a serious injury forced the production to make a major change.

Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television moved quickly to Bautista after deciding to recast Kratos. Hurst had originally landed the lead role in the PlayStation adaptation and had already spent four months filming when he tore his bicep while performing a stunt in late June.

Rather than try to work around the injury and existing material, the production is making a clean restart. None of the footage shot with Hurst is expected to be used.

Prep on the new version begins this month, with filming scheduled to restart in Vancouver in mid-October. Frederick E.O. Toye, the Emmy-winning director whose credits include Shōgun, The Boys, and Fallout, directed the first two episodes during the original shoot and will return to direct those episodes again with Bautista as Kratos.

It’s a huge change for a series that had already gotten pretty far into production, but Bautista is an interesting choice to take over the role. The casting will also bring a different interpretation of Kratos following plenty of online debate surrounding the first image of Hurst in character that was released in February.

Bautista won’t have a ton of time to prepare for one of gaming’s most physically imposing characters. Luckily, physical preparation is something he knows extremely well. His years as a professional wrestler should come in handy, and he recently bulked up for the upcoming Highlander movie.

The live-action God of War comes from writer, executive producer, and showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Production originally began in Vancouver in February with a two-season order, and the plan to shoot both seasons back-to-back remains in place despite the restart.

The story will primarily draw from the two most recent games in the franchise, shifting the focus away from Kratos’ bloody war against the Greek gods and toward his complicated relationship with his young son, Atreus, played by Callum Vinson.

Kratos and Atreus set out on a journey to spread the ashes of Faye, Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother. Their adventure becomes much more than a quest to fulfill her final wish. Kratos is trying to teach Atreus how to become a better god, while his son gradually pushes his father toward becoming a better human.

That relationship completely changed what God of War could be when the game franchise moved into Norse mythology, and it will serve as the emotional heart of the Prime Video adaptation.

For anyone unfamiliar with Kratos’ long and exceptionally violent history, he began life as a Spartan warrior before becoming one of the most feared figures in mythology.

Raised for battle, he eventually commanded armies before making a disastrous bargain with Ares, the Greek God of War. Kratos surrendered his soul in exchange for victory, setting him on a path that eventually saw him slaughter his way through mortals, monsters, and gods.

Across several games, Kratos evolved from an unstoppable force of rage into a much older man carrying the weight of everything he had done. His brutal combat skills and stoic personality are still there, but becoming a father gave the character another dimension. That version of Kratos is the one Bautista will be tackling.

He certainly has the physical presence for it, but the more interesting part will be seeing what he does with the character emotionally. Bautista has spent years moving beyond the action-heavy roles people might have initially expected from him, with performances that have allowed him to play intimidating characters with vulnerability underneath. Kratos gives him plenty of room to tap into both sides.

Bautista will be surrounded by a large cast of familiar gods, warriors, dwarves, and other characters from the games. Mandy Patinkin is playing Odin, Ed Skrein is Baldur, Max Parker is Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson is Thor, Teresa Palmer is Sif, Alastair Duncan is Mimir, Jeff Gulka is Sindri, Danny Woodburn is Brok, Sonya Walger is Freya, Island Austin is Thrud, Ben Chapple is Magni, Louis Cunningham is Modi, and Evelyn Miller is Gna.

The series is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios in association with PlayStation Productions and Moore’s Tall Ship Productions.

God of War will only be Bautista’s second series-regular television role following Season 2 of Apple TV’s See. It also continues his relationship with Amazon MGM Studios after he starred alongside Jason Momoa in The Wrecking Crew this year. He’ll also appear opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the upcoming Road House 2.

Losing Hurst after four months of filming is obviously a major blow for God of War, especially when it means throwing out the material that had already been shot. Bautista stepping in, however, gives Amazon and Sony a proven action star who has also shown he can bring real dramatic weight to characters built like tanks.

Now the entire production gets another shot at bringing Kratos to live action.