Prime Video’s God of War series has locked in key details, but 3 brutal things still need to happen after its creative overhaul

Prime Video’s live-action God of War series will officially begin filming in 2026 and will adapt the Norse era of the video games, showrunner Ronald D Moore confirmed to Collider at San Diego Comic-Con. The focus will be on Kratos and Atreus, although scripts for season 1 are still being written at this stage. There will be 10 episodes to binge, which the game’s creative director Cory Barlog is “actively involved” in, Moore said.

We’re not likely to see any completed episodes until 2027 at the earliest, but for now, any concrete details are good progress. Amazon initially announced that the project was greenlit back in 2022, but pre-production slowed to a halt for unconfirmed reasons. Allegedly, scripts needed reworking (via KitGuru), adding another three years onto the development process.

I’m not sure whether the fact that the scripts still aren’t complete is a good or bad thing, but I know exactly what I want to see from the new Prime Video TV series regardless. Just like me, fans have a set vision for how God of War should look on screen, and that means not negotiating on three essential details that could turn brutal into boring.

Prime Video’s God of War series needs more co-creators who have obsessively played the games

Among the clarity of essential details (which is great), one new development sticks out in my mind as a potential red flag. On an episode of The Sackhoff Show with Katee Sackhoff, showrunner Ronald D Moore admitted that he’s never played any of the video games because they’re “too complicated”. “Press R1. Which one’s R1? Oh, I’m dead! I can’t quite get a hold of that,” he explained. It doesn’t take a genius to see why alarm bells are ringing here. How do you understand the bones of something you’ve never properly experienced?

Obviously, it’s great news that Barlog is somehow involved, but I worry this is akin to how often Superintendent Chalmers visits Springfield Elementary in The Simpsons (read: not much). In order to be a surefire success, God of War’s adaptation needs an on-the-ground team that lives and breathes its gameplay, understanding what happens in its lore better than anybody on the internet. We’re not looking for a scene-by-scene recreation here, and nor should we. But it’s not too much to ask for a consistent presence of creators who just get what they need to do.

There should be a nod to the Greek era

Take a quick look online and you’ll see an outcry of fans who can’t believe that the Norse games like God of War Ragnarok have been chosen over the Greek era. This is arguably where the franchise packs its biggest punch, operating on a much bigger scale with its gore, violence and basically everything explicit that the Greeks would deem as a normal day out. It’s a much cooler setting, but Prime Video has played it safe by sticking with the Norse era, which is basically devoid of scandal (and not to mention, likely a lot cheaper to replicate).

Sure, this makes the franchise much more family-friendly and appealing to commercial producers who might now be on board. But is God of War missing the point of why we love it so much? At the very least, I want to see the live-action series honor the games that came before Norseology, whether it be through flashbacks or simply word of mouth myths. If you’re not giving fans the Greek era outright, make sure it’s appreciated in a roundabout way at the very least.

Kratos’ casting needs to be a slam dunk

If I’m being flippantly honest, any young little thing can come along and play an extremely convincing Atreus, but Kratos has a lot more riding on him. Prime Video could go one of two ways: bring in a heavyweight A-lister like Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us, or go for someone nobody has ever heard of. I’d say a smart idea is to cast Kratos’ voice actor Christopher Judge, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.

So, if God of War won’t go with a pre-existing Kratos expert, they need to pick someone who looks exactly like him. Names like Alan Ritchson, Henry Cavil and Jason Momoa have all been tossed around the internet, but nobody can seem to agree on a talented actor who also looks enough like Kratos, and that’s before we even get to this distinctive voice. If you’re asking me, I think Dave Bautista has an outside chance (he was brilliant in Glass Onion but totally won me over in The Last Showgirl).

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