ENTERTAINMENTDave Bautista Eyes Kratos Role Following Ryan Hurst's Exit From 'God of War'
Dave Bautista reportedly entered talks to play Kratos in the 'God of War' series after Ryan Hurst's exit.
Aug. 4 2026, Updated 12:25 p.m. ET
Dave Bautista is reportedly in talks to play Kratos in the God of War series after Ryan Hurst's exit due to injury.
These reports come two weeks after news broke that the respective lead role would be recast, per Deadline. If the casting gets finalized, the series would likely be reshot with the Guardians of the Galaxy star.
Ryan Hurst Exited 'GOW' Series Due to On-Set Injury
Ryan Hurst reportedly left the 'God of War' series after a stunt injury halted production.
Originally cast as Kratos in the upcoming God of War series, Hurst had filmed four episodes before production was halted.
Filming stopped after the Odyssey actor suffered a bicep injury while performing a stunt in late June, about four months into production.
Although Hurst underwent surgery, his recovery reportedly took longer than Amazon Prime Video was willing to wait.
A few weeks later, the role was recast, with preparations expected to begin in mid-August ahead of a mid-October production restart in Vancouver.
Ryan Hurst voiced Thor in 'God of War Ragnarök' before Dave Bautista emerged as a Kratos contender.
Hurst holds plenty of experience in the genre as a veteran of Remember the Titans and Sons of Anarchy.
He has also voiced Thor in 2022’s God of War: Ragnarok video game, which was one of the installments following the 2005 original God of War.
Meanwhile, Bautista has already starred in Amazon films The Wrecking Crew and My Spy, making him a natural choice to replace Hurst in the physically demanding role.
He is also set to appear in Road House 2 and the fantasy film Highlander, for which he bulked up.
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'God of War' Adaptation First-Look Was Subject of Intense Online Discourse
Dave Bautista's reported casting would have placed him alongside Mandy Patinkin, Callum Vinson and Max Parker in the Prime Video series.
Earlier this year, Prime Video released first-look images from the God of War TV series. However, video game creator David Jaffe criticized one image, calling it "so dumb" and a "terrible image" in a YouTube reaction video.
"I’m sure everybody’s trying real hard," he quipped, chuckling.
While he said he believes showrunner Ronald D. Moore is "awesome," explaining that he's "not worried about the show," Jaffe added, "but I’m a little worried about: What the f--- is this?"
Ryan Hurst had already shot four episodes as Kratos in the series before production was halted.
Jaffe continued, "Maybe they’re like, ‘Well, what we really want to focus on is the father-son story ... maybe people are like, I don’t want to watch that show.’ OK, maybe, but then, at that point, could you find a picture that doesn’t look like he’s s-------- in the woods?"
He further said the character looked awkward and poorly styled.
"None of these characters look very interesting or appealing — they look just dumb. Like if this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber edition," Jaffe concluded.
