While appearances can be deceiving, it sure as Hel looks like Amazon’s Prime Video is trying to position itself at the forefront of video game TV adaptations.
For the longest time, the film and television industries struggled mightily to adapt video games, leading to their perceived low-brow status in the 1990s and indeed most of the 21st century. However, they seemed to finally crack the code at the end of the 2010s, as a great deal of finest video game adaptations of all time have come in the last seven years or so, but intriguingly, the strongest efforts have all been on television.
The earliest mold-breakers in the medium were the animated Netflix show Arcane – adapted from the League of Legends universe – and HBO’s The Last of Us. Both have proven that attentive worldbuilding and strong storytelling (a factor missing from most video game adaptations to that point), with more than a dash of respect and faithfulness to the source material, is what audiences sought all along. Go figure!
Amazon took note of this shift and acquired the rights to adapt the hugely popular video game series Fallout, in no small part because its iconically retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic aesthetic and rich lore was ready-made for adaptation. All it needed, once again, was a strong story to pay off.
And pay off it did, as the show’s first season drew strong viewership numbers for the Prime Video streaming platform all the while being listed alongside the likes of Arcane and The Last of Us as one of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, a claim that is only bolstered by Fallout’s similarly excellent second season, whose finale will air February 3rd.
Amazon have not been resting on the laurels of Fallout’s success alone either, as they have just begun shooting a Tomb Raider series in London developed by none other than Felabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also serves as co-showrunner while Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner plays the iconic Lara Croft. Yet, adapting just two pivotal video game franchises was not enough for the corporation, so they are also turning God of War into a TV show, which will begin shooting in Vancouver in March, and while it has been making headlines recently for its intriguing casting choices – more on that in a moment –fans should also be thrilled about who is behind the show.
The name Ronald D. Moore might not mean much to some, but he is amongst the most notable figures in 21st century television, having developed and run shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Outlander, and For All Mankind, the latter of which he currently works on. However, he has found the time to serve as a writer, showrunner, and executive producer on God of War, replacing The Expanse’s Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and The Wheel of Time’s Rafe Judkins following “a shift in creative direction”, though it is still unclear what this specifically means. What we do know, though, is that the show will be adapting the fifth and sixth entries in the video game series, 2018’s God of War and its 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarök.
In 2018’s God of War, series protagonist Kratos, otherwise known as the “Ghost of Sparta”, is a demigod hailing from ancient Greece who once served as the God of War amongst Olympians after slaying Ares. Eventually betrayed by Olympus, Kratos sought bloody vengeance against the Greek Pantheon, slaughtering each of them, even his father Zeus, but not without being gravely injured himself. He eventually finds himself in the mythological Norse region of Midgard, which is similarly populated by gods and monsters, and it is where he fathers a son named Atreus. However, after the death of Kratos’s lover and Atreus’ mother, Faye, the two must fulfill her final wish by journeying to the highest peak in the nine realms to spread her ashes.
What is particularly interesting is that the creatives behind the show have opted to forgo Kratos’ Greek period from the games, which spans four of the six mainline entries in the franchise. Nonetheless, I believe this is a particularly clever choice, as it focuses on a more well-rounded and emotionally deep Kratos – as opposed to earlier renditions where he was a vessel of unbridled rage thirsting for vengeance – not to mention Kratos’ relationship with Atreus can act as the show’s emotional core. What’s more, they could instead utilize flashbacks as a means of depicting Kratos’ days in Greece and Mount Olympus and juxtapose the man of the past with that of the present.
Although, the flashbacks are only mere speculation for now, given that only characters from 2018’s God of War and God of War Ragnarök have been cast thus far. The first to be cast was Ryan Hurst, who is perhaps best known for his roles in the movie Remember the Titans and the TV show Sons of Anarchy. Most interestingly, Hurst originally played Thor in God of War Ragnarök, voicing the character as well as performing his motion capture, but it is Severance actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson who will be playing his live action counterpart.
Another actor from the video games who will be returning is Alastair Duncan, but conversely, he will be portraying the same character, the ever-chatty bodyless companion, Mimir. Further castings thus far include Teresa Palmer as Sif, Max Parker as Heimdall, Danny Woodburn and Canadian actor Jeff Gulka as the bickering dwarf brothers Bork and Sindri, respectively, and finally, none other than Mandy Patinkin will be playing the villainous leader of the Norse gods, Odin. There are still some major roles yet to be cast, however, most notably Atreus and Freya, as well as the primary villain of 2018’s God of War, Baldur, who was played by brilliantly by Emmy-winning actor Jeremy Davies, though it remains to be seen if his character will even be included in the TV show’s narrative, which has been greenlit for at least two seasons.
There is no official release date for Prime Video’s God of War yet, but given that they begin shooting in March, it is most likely to release in mid-to-late 2027, if not early 2028.