Amazon’s increasingly complicated “God Of War” series may have found its new Kratos. Dave Bautista is reportedly in talks to replace Ryan Hurst, whose on-set injury forced the production to recast its central character after filming had already begun.
Hurst tore his bicep while performing a stunt in late June and subsequently underwent surgery. With the physically demanding role requiring an extended recovery period, Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television decided to move forward with another actor rather than further delay production. At least four episodes featuring Hurst will reportedly need to be reshot.
READ MORE: ‘God Of War’ Recasting Kratos After Ryan Hurst Suffers Serious On-Set Injury
Kratos will not be the show’s only recasting, although the other change is planned for Season 2. Callum Vinson will remain Atreus during the first season, but Amazon is casting a teenage actor to take over after the story’s time jump. Island Austin, who plays Thor’s daughter Thrúd, will similarly be replaced by an older performer for Season 2.
It is a rough break for Hurst, who gained approximately 40 pounds of muscle to play the famously enormous Spartan warrior. Bautista, meanwhile, may have to do some bulking of his own.
The former WWE star spent decades maintaining the kind of physique that made him seem born to play Kratos, but he has deliberately slimmed down in recent years. Bautista has said carrying so much additional weight and muscle had become uncomfortable and that his smaller frame was healthier and worked better alongside other actors on camera.
Granted, Bautista at 240 pounds is hardly small. Still, playing Kratos would presumably require him to add back at least some of the muscle he worked so hard to lose. Perhaps Amazon’s offer—and the chance to lead a major two-season franchise—was too difficult to resist.
The role would also represent a slight reversal in Bautista’s recent career strategy. Since leaving Marvel’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy” films behind, he has deliberately moved away from broadly physical characters to concentrate on more dramatic acting, particularly through collaborations with filmmakers such as Denis Villeneuve, Rian Johnson and M. Night Shyamalan.
Kratos, however, offers both sides of that equation. The Norse-era games follow a widowed Kratos attempting to control his violent impulses while raising his son, Atreus. Beneath the monsters, gods and axe-swinging action, the story is built around grief, fatherhood, shame and a man trying not to pass his worst qualities down to his child.
Ronald D. Moore serves as writer, showrunner and executive producer. Filming is expected to resume in October after Amazon secures its Kratos and hopefully locks in Bautista. The Prime Video series does not currently have a premiere date. [Via Deadline]
