Dave Bautista has closed his deal to play Kratos in Prime Video’s God of War fantasy drama series.
Series co-studios Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television reached out to Bautista and initiated talks shortly after they had made a decision to recast the role following original lead Ryan Hurst’s serious on-set injury.
As Deadline reported, Hurst, who had been originally set as Kratos in the adaptation of the popular PlayStation video game, tore a bicep while performing a stunt in late June, four months into the shoot.
Bautista’s casting signals a possible different approach to the character of Kratos, which has been the subject of intense online discourse following the first-look image released in February.
Prep begins this month for a mid-October production start in Vancouver where the show is based. The series is starting from scratch as no footage from the original shoot is expected to be used. Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun, The Boys, Fallout), who directed the first two episodes with Hurst, will do the same for the new iteration with Bautista.
The fall production start leaves little time for Bautista to get ready to play the physically demanding role of Kratos but his extensive background as a professional wrestler is expected to kick in, along with the work he had done recently for his role in the new Highlander movie, which required him to bulk up.
The ancient mythology-themed God of War, from writer, executive producer and showrunner Ronald D. Moore, began filming in February in Vancouver on a two-season order with the seasons slated to film back-to-back, which remains the plan.
God of War follows father and son Kratos (Bautista) and Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human.
The titular character of the entire franchise, Kratos is Spartan by birth, and a god by nature. Raised in a martial culture, he rose to command armies in service of his homeland until one day he made a fateful deal with Ares, the Greek God of War and lost his soul in exchange for being victorious in battle. Over the course of ten wildly successful games, Kratos vanquished mortals, creatures and gods alike. In the process, he became an iconic character in pop culture, known for his stoic nature, unchallenged combat skills, and tragic past.
In God of War, the live action series, his story will closely follow the path of the last two games as he deals with something new: his ten-year-old son Atreus. This father and son dynamic began a whole new chapter in the series and will be the heartbeat of the new show.
The cast also includes Mandy Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, Danny Woodburn as Brok, Sonya Walger as Freya, Island Austin as Thrud, Ben Chapple as Magni, Louis Cunningham as Modi, and Evelyn Miller as Gna.
God of War is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios in association with PlayStation Productions and Moore’s Tall Ship Productions. In addition to Moore, executive producers include Maril Davis, Cory Barlog, Naren Shankar, Matthew Graham, Asad Qizilbash, Jeff Ketcham, Hermen Hulst, Roy Lee and Brad Van Arragon. Joe Menosky, Marc Bernardin, Tania Lotia and Ben McGinnis co-executive produce.
This marks only the second series-regular role for Bautista following Season 2 of the Apple TV drama See. It reteams him with Amazon MGM Studios after starring alongside Jason Momoa in the film The Wrecking Crew this year and opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the upcoming Road House 2.
Bautista has several other movies coming up, Alpha Gang, which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival; the animated Ally; and Highlander. He is repped by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.