Things are picking up for God of War, Prime Video's anticipated fantasy show based on the iconic video game series. In recent weeks we've gotten a ton of casting announcements, including Ryan Hurst as the titular God of War, Kratos, Callum Vinson as his son Atreus, Severance's Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Max Parker as Heimdall, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Danny Woodburn as Brok, Jeff Gulka as the dwarf blacksmith Sindri, The Princess Bride legend Mandy Patinkin as Odin, and Game of Thrones alum Ed Skrein as the tenacious and vindictive Baldur.
That fills out the majority of the main cast from the 2018 God of War video game that forms the basis for the show's first season, and it's given fans a lot to chew over. However, the biggest tease came a shortly after the casting announcements, when Prime Video unveiled a first look at Hurst as Kratos and Vinson as Atreus...and that's when the vitriol started flying.
All it takes is a scroll through Reddit or social media to find thread upon thread of fans bashing this first look image, even going so far as to accuse it of being AI-generated concept art. And granted, there is a certain sub-sect of gaming culture that absolutely gets off on tearing things to pieces, or creating rage-bait videos about how things are awful. But in this case, even the creator of the original God of War video games, David Jaffe, got in on it, calling it a "dumb f***ing image" in a recent stream on his YouTube channel.
God of War creator rails against Prime Video's first look image
It's enough to make you wonder if Prime Video has seriously misstepped with this first look at the series. And while they perhaps could have gone with something other than a production still like this (which Jaffe says makes Kratos look "stupid" and like he's "shitting in the woods"), I do think fans are overreacting a bit here. First look images don't always tend to be indicative of what a finished series will look like in the end, and in this case I'd imagine that's somewhat the case.
Remember our first look at Henry Cavill from The Witcher? You would never in a million years have guessed he'd give one of the definitive performances as Geralt of Rivia from that shot, and yet Cavill both looked and embodied the part to perfection. It's far too early to make any judgment calls on God of War from this shot alone.
To be fair, for as much as Jaffe does rip the picture to shreds, he does stop short of bashing the production itself. "Two things can be true. This can be a terrible image, and it is. It is so bad in so many ways, which we'll talk about in a moment. And Ron Moore is awesome, who is the showrunner," he said. "He created the new Battlestar. He didn't create it, because it's based on books, but Outlander, about the woman who goes back in time. He's done Star Trek stuff. The guy is a juggernaut of a talented fellow. I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be a good show. Cory [Barlog] is on it. I think Cory has a great deal to offer, not just to this universe, but he's great with storytelling. I'm not worried about the show."
Jaffe also has no problems with the casting itself. "A good actor is a good actor and that's all you need," he said. "I'd much rather have a great actor who embodies the essence of the character and makes the character endearing or memorable or iconic, than looks just like the person in the video game. Who cares, right? I mean, you care right now, but eventually they can become, you know… Peter Parker never looked like Tobey Maguire until Tobey Maguire became Peter Parker, right? So, I'm not worried about that stuff."
He's far less kind about the composition of the image itself, including some harsh words about the costuming for young Vinson. "He looks like a very confused little boy with too much product in his hair. Neither of these characters look very interesting or appealing. They look, just dumb, like if this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber Edition."
In the end, I imagine this is a case of Prime Video rushing to get an image out to fans, and perhaps not doing its due dilligence to make sure it was truly reflective of the finished product. Jaffe points out the obvious styrofoam rock in the background as a glaring issue, and that's fair; it does look like a fake rock. But will it look less like one once it's glossed over with visual effects for the final cut of the show? Time will tell.
What is the God of War show about?
It's also interesting to me to see Jaffe, who directed the first two God of War games in 2005 and 2007, publicly throwing his hat in the ring like this, when he had to know it would make headlines. If you're not familiar with the series, it might come as a surprise that the story the TV show is adapting is not the first God of War video game, but a reboot that came out in 2018 meant to introduce Kratos to a new generation of gamers. In the original trilogy in which Jaffe was heavily involved, Kratos was a much younger man who found himself inextricably tied to the Greek God of War, Ares. He sliced and diced his way through hordes of monsters, led an uprising against Olympus, and ultimately became God of War himself after a vicious quest for vengeance.
We presumably won't see any of that in the television show, because it's all distant backstory by the time of the 2018 reboot and its sequel, 2022's God of War Ragnarök. Those games pick up years later, with Kratos hiding out in Midgard, the land of mortals in Norse mythology, far from his homeland of Sparta. There he raises his young son, Atreus, who is oblivious to the details of his father's deific past. Eventually Kratos falls afoul of some of the Norse gods, especially Baldur, who makes it his personal mission to inflict pain on the Grecian deity.
Jaffe wasn't involved in the reboot series, but as the creator of the original game, he obviously has strong opinions about the character and story. Which is fair! But fortunately, Cory Barlog, who directed the 2018 reboot and is much closer to the events covered in the most recent games, is involved more directly in the show. That bodes well for the series, regardless of how this first look image may have set people off. For now, we can only wait to form a fuller opinion once we see more of the show.
God of War is currently filming in Vancouver, Canada. It's expected to premiere on Prime Video sometime in 2027.