It looks like Dave Bautista will replace Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy / The Walking Dead) as Kratos in Prime Video’s upcoming God of War series.
Deadline reports that Dave Bautista has closed a deal to become popular video game character, replacing Ryan Hurst who suffered a seriuous injury while on set.
According to the website, Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television reached out to the former professional wrestler-turned-Hollywood superstar after Hurst suffered an injury.
Hurst, who was given the role and drew plenty of reactions, mostly negative, tore a bicep while performing a stunt in late June, only four months into shooting.
There Will Be A Tight Window For Bautista To Bulk Up For The Role
Deadline reports that there will be little time for Bautista to bulk up for the role, and that no old footage will be used due to Hurst’s injury.
Per Deadline:
Prep begins this month for a mid-October production start in Vancouver where the show is based. The series is starting from scratch as no footage from the original shoot is being used. Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun, The Boys, Fallout), who directed the first two episodes with Hurst, will do the same for the new iteration with Bautista.
The fall production start leaves little time for Bautista to get ready to play the physically demanding role of Kratos but his extensive background as a professional wrestler is expected to kick in, along with the work he had done recently for his role in the new Highlander movie, which required him to bulk up.
We have no doubt in our minds that Bautista will be ready for the role, but we never truly saw him as Kratos. Hilariously, in the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special, Bautista’s character, Drax, was hilariously mistaken for Kratos by a fan who took a picture with the extraterrestrial superhero.
We Guess We Are No Longer Gonna See Dave Bautista in Gears of War
Bautista isn’t a stranger to video games. For years, he has pitched himself to play Marcus Fenix from the Gears of War franchise, but now we don’t think that is happening, now that he is Kratos.
Consider us intrigued.
We will reserve any judgement until we get our first look at Bautista as the Kratos, it can’t be any worse than the first look photo we got of Hurst in character.
You can see more reactions to the news below.
