Live-action Kratos and Atreus are here.
A first look at Amazon’s God of War drama arrived Friday as filming begins on the massive gaming-to-TV adaptation. Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson appear as the two lead characters, recreating a scene from the beginning of the 2018 God of War video game in which the Ghost of Sparta gives his son a hunting lesson shortly after the death of his wife.
From showrunner and writer Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander), God of War adapts the main events from the Scandinavian-set narrative of the most recent games in which Kratos and Atreus cross paths figures from Norse myth.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty; Sony Interactive Entertainment
What begins as a journey for father and son to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye, quickly turns into a fantastical adventure the tests their relationship and digs up ghosts from Kratos’ past.
Already confirmed for the cast are Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, and Danny Woodburn as Brok.
Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun, The Boys, Fallout) will helm the series’ first two episodes. The show is already confirmed for two seasons.
The casting of Hurst as Kratos was significant as the Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead veteran previously portrayed Thor, god of Thunder, in the video games. Kratos comes with a deep history that dates back to the 2005 installment.
Meg Vinson; PlayStation
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Kratos began as a Spartan warrior and a servant of Ares, the Greek god of war. After Ares tricked him into killing his family, earning him the nickname “the Ghost of Sparta,” Kratos embarked on a mission to slay his tormentor and become the new war god. Across multiple games, he faced numerous figures — human, monster, and immortal alike — until he battled against Zeus himself and the full force of Mount Olympus.
By the time we meet him in 2018’s God of War and the narrative the live-action show will now tackle, he’s left that life behind to settle down in the land of Vikings.
Learn more about the various characters audiences will meet when God of War premieres on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform. A launch date has not been confirmed.