The God of War franchise has been one of the biggest in gaming since its debut on the PlayStation 2 in 2005, though it didn’t go stratospheric until 2018’s God of War on PlayStation 4. That title and its recent sequel God of War: Ragnarok are considered two of the best games of the generation, so it’s not surprising that Amazon has tapped the franchise for a live-action adaptation.
We don’t know many details about what’s in store, but Amazon Studios Head of TV Vernon Sander has insisted that it’ll be “incredibly true to the source material.” One particularly tricky factor is casting lead character Kratos. In the game, he’s voiced and motion-captured by Christopher Judge, who has been garlanded with universal praise, recently winning Best Performance at The Game Awards.
Playing the character in a live-action show is a different kettle of fish, and a common fan suggestion for the role is Dave Bautista, something Judge isn’t happy about:
Replies are adamant they won’t watch the show unless Judge reprises the role:
There is a potentially thorny problem here. Christopher Judge is African American, and Kratos is an ash-white Greek man who was cursed to bear the “mark of his terrible deed” after accidentally killing his family. Also, while Judge has the height, he’s now 58 and recently experienced health problems, so may not be able to realize Kratos’ intense physicality in live-action.
The obvious solution is for the God of War show to simply be a mix of live-action and CG. After all, if the performance capture was already so impressive in a PlayStation 4 game, they should be able to make Kratos look so much better in a big budget TV series.
So, while Dave Bautista isn’t the worst choice for Kratos, we desperately hope they can find a way for Judge to step up, as we can’t imagine the iconic protagonist sounding and looking any other way.
Published: Jan 11, 2023 05:22 am