Hit + Myth: AMAZON forced to recast its GOD OF WAR…

There have been several significant games-to-tv adaptations in recent years. The Last of Us, and Fallout have been the most successful, but Amazon Prime‘s planned God of War series – already well into production – was on target to be another top-level draw.

However, the show faces a massive hurdle with the news that its lead Ryan Hurst (also to be seen in Christopher Nolan’s latest film, The Odyssey) will now have to be replaced – even after four full episodes were completed. Neither Amazon or SONY have formally confirmed the news, but it is being reported by all major industry outlets. The actor was seriously hurt during a stunt being filmed in June, the result being that he tore a bicep and the injury will require months of repair and recuperation. Though recasting is a rare occurrence and in itself immensely costly, Hurst’s downtime would have ruled him out of returning to the role until at least well into 2027 and the production – which is filming seasons one and two back-to-back – simply couldn’t halt everything beyond the enforced hiatus with which it is having to currently deal.

The God of War story tells the tale of Kratos (Hurst) and his son Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they journey to spread the ashes of Kratos’ wife Faye and how the father tries to teach the son to be a better god and Atreus teaches his father how to be a better human. This is helped and hindered by some of the other mythological deities and figures including Odin (Mandy Patinkin), Baldur (Ed Skrein), Heimdall (Max Parker), Thor (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), Sif (Teresa Palmer), Mimir (Alastair Duncan), Sindri (Jeff Gulka) and Brok (Danny Woodburn).

Hurst – who had actually voiced the role of Thor in the PlayStation title God of War: Ragnarok – underwent a massive physical transformation to play the part of Kratos on screen but doctors say that the four months of recovery time could be further extended by the time needed to regain the strength and flexibility needed for the role. The production hopes to have cast a new actor and be back in front of the camera and reshooting major parts of those first four episodes in the autumn/fall, but if there’s any further delays, the central recasting might also end up affecting Vinson’s participation as the young actor will have grown considerably in the downtime.

God of War‘s showrunner is Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) and the  Sony Pictures / Amazon MGM series was expected to launch in 2027 – it is not known if the reshoots will push the date back significantly.