Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune) has officially closed the deal to take over as Kratos in Prime Video’s ‘God of War’ series, replacing Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead) following the latter’s serious on-set injury.
As we reported earlier this month, Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television approached Bautista after deciding they would need to recast the role. Hurst tore a bicep while performing a stunt in late June, four months into filming, with the injury requiring surgery and a lengthy recovery.
At the time, Bautista was still in negotiations, but the deal is now done, meaning the former WWE star will officially be picking up the Leviathan Axe when production resumes.
It will, however, involve rather more than Bautista simply stepping onto the existing set. The production is effectively starting again, with none of the footage featuring Hurst expected to be used. Prep begins this month ahead of a planned mid-October restart in Vancouver, meaning the previously filmed material will need to be reshot with the new Kratos.
Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun, The Boys, Fallout), who directed the opening two episodes with Hurst, is expected to return to direct those episodes again with Bautista.
The recasting potentially gives ‘God of War’ a somewhat different Kratos. Bautista obviously has no shortage of experience when it comes to physically demanding roles, thanks both to his wrestling career and films including Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune and Army of the Dead. He has also recently been working on the new Highlander movie, which required him to bulk up considerably, so that preparation may prove rather useful given the relatively short turnaround before filming begins again.
Based on the Norse mythology era of PlayStation’s hugely successful game franchise, ‘God of War’ follows Kratos and his young son Atreus, played by Callum Vinson (Chucky), as they journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Along the way, Kratos attempts to teach Atreus how to become a better god, while Atreus tries to help his father become a better human. There will presumably still be plenty of monsters getting introduced to the business end of an axe along the way.
The rest of the previously announced cast remains in place, including Mandy Patinkin (Homeland, The Princess Bride) as Odin, Ed Skrein (Deadpool, Rebel Moon) as Baldur, Max Parker (Emmerdale, Vampire Academy) as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist, Severance) as Thor, Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches, Warm Bodies) as Sif, and Alastair Duncan (The Batman, Batman Unlimited) as Mimir.
The series comes from writer, executive producer and showrunner Ronald D. Moore and already has a two-season order. Despite the production upheaval, the plan remains to shoot both seasons back-to-back.
It is an incredibly unfortunate way for Hurst’s time as Kratos to end, given that the recasting came as a direct result of an injury suffered making the show. However, if you are going to find someone capable of stepping into one of gaming’s most physically imposing roles at relatively short notice, Bautista is a pretty formidable replacement.
‘God of War’ does not yet have a confirmed premiere date on Prime Video.
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