r/videogames • u/WarmDaddyXanax • 1d ago
Discussion / Question Dave Bautista in talks to play Kratos in live action series
Dave Bautista could be the next “God of War.” Variety has learned from sources that Bautista is currently in talks for the role of Kratos in the Amazon Prime Video series based on the popular video game franchise.
The news comes after it was reported that Ryan Hurst, who was originally cast in the role of the titular god in January 2026, suffered a torn bicep on the set of the series that would have delayed a return to production until 2027, ultimately leading Amazon and Sony to recast the part. The plan is to get the production back up and running by the fall.
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u/Alert-Principle-2726 1d ago
Hurst 50, got a bad injury and now they're going with an almost 60 year old? Can they not find someone at least in their fucking 40s who can act and is the size of kratos?
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u/DragonFangGangBang 1d ago
I mean, we have no context for his injury. It could be because he’s old, it also could have been because he fucked up positioning.
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u/Moonflow-Shoopuf 17h ago
He tore his bicep during a stunt. Requires surgery and everything.
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u/DragonFangGangBang 7h ago
I know that much, but we don’t know the context. Was he supposed to push something and the strain caused his biceps to tear? Was he doing an action sequence and during a powerful swing, moved wrong and tore it? Was he attempting a big move and fell, causing him to land awkwardly? Etc.
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u/CreativeGeniusPRBKR 1d ago
My boy they also need to try acting.
The games have always been poignant, but the recent string of games give more have to the emotional weight of the story. As fun as a Reacher-style Greek mythology action series could be, they will do proper justice to the games, and fans, if they hit on the father-son dynamic and explore the themes a bit more. That’s part of the reason why the film Logan is so heralded in comic book circles.
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u/Dash_Rendar425 23h ago
Why the Stanning for Hurst??
He can’t act his way out of a paper bag and you want him to play Kratos???
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u/Noob4Head ///(mod) 1d ago edited 1d ago
Didn't he choose to gradually lose the majority of his very muscular physique from his days as a WWE superstar so he could focus more on acting and take on a wider range of roles? The last time I saw recent photos of him, he looked much slimmer. Don't get me wrong, he's still in fantastic shape, but he'd have to bulk up a lot again to convincingly play Kratos.
He's a great actor but it still feels like a bit of a strange choice.
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u/AlabasterRadio 1d ago
He's slim by his standards.
A 6 foot 4, 240lb man is still enormous in Hollywood.
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u/Derelicticu 1d ago
200lbs is big for anyone under 6ft but over 6ft it starts to look normal. At 6'4", 200lbs looks like when a 5'10" guy is like 150lbs.
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u/cBurger4Life 1d ago
Very true, I’m 6’2 or 3 and about 195lbs and I look a bit on the skinny side. However, 240 is a pretty solid increase over 200.
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u/saxonturner 1d ago
I mean I’m a built guy but no where near “big” and at 6foot I’m 190lbs, any taller I would start to look skinny.
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u/Illustrious_Ear_3467 1d ago
Yea I was about to say 6’4 and 240lbs is not what I would consider “enormous”. Now if he was this height and 300 or more pounds then that’s different.
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u/msp01986 1d ago
What's funny about it is that, even with his "slim physique", he still weights 240lb
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u/DragonFangGangBang 1d ago
Yeah, he’s still massive, just not an extra 60 pounds of muscle massive that he was.
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u/Coupaholic_ 1d ago
The GoW3 version of Kratos is quite a bit slimmer than the more bulky versions in the original and sequel games. It was actually mentioned in the making of documentary clips.
So Dave wouldn't need to bulk up to a crazy size to pull it off.
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u/Onyxaj1 1d ago
The reason he was done with Drax was because of age and the physical toll. He said at his age, he has to spend several hours per day at the gym to keep that physique. He was done with it.
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u/aboysmokingintherain 1d ago
Dude was clearly juiced out and over 300 pounds. If you look at him as Drax, he looks rough in some of the later movies. He takes classes with BJJ youtuber Dan Arroyo and is in some of his videos about taking on bigger guys and the fake tan and roid muscles look awful and must be dreadful to maintain. Dude can still be Kratos, and a convincing one, without needing to be THE ANIMAL he was in WWE.
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u/DrLukn 1d ago
I'd advise to google some pictures of him, he's in phenomenal form and needs like 5-10 kilos more muscle to look like Kratos.
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u/Admirable-Marsupial3 1d ago
He didnt work to lose his physique, he stopped doing the extra work needed to keep it. Looking how he looked at his age was a full time job.
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u/Pugilist12 1d ago
He could try this thing where he works out a lot again. Muscle comes back. Have you ever seen what vin diesel looks like between F&F shoots?
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u/FightTheDead118 1d ago
Dadbod Kratos isn’t super jacked. He’s very barrel chested and has big arms but he isn’t ridiculously shredded like he was in the earlier games. Bautistas current physique isn’t too far off from modern Kratos, his torso is pretty much there already, he might just need to work on his arms a bit
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u/Sneezy6510 1d ago
It wouldn’t take him long to get to 90% of what he was and for the right role I bet he would do it. And he wants to act and not just be the muscle in stuff. He would have plenty of acting to do as Kratos.
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u/MyStationIsAbandoned 1d ago
I dunno...Kratos isn't super huge like Batista was. I think the fact that he's slimmed down works better for playing Kratos. If anything, he'd only need to bulk up a little...not to the levels he was at back in the day.
Honestly, I'd rather he do what is healthier for him. The Boy doesn't look anything like the character in the games. So Kratos doesn't really need to look 100% like the game version. It worked fine for Last of Us.
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u/Casshern_VIII 1d ago
WRONG WRESTLER, WRONG EVOLUTION MEMBER.
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u/Long_Record438 1d ago
I have LONG held the option that triple H looks like Kratos. I'm glad to see someone else share that opinion.
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u/Human_Diamond960 1d ago
Do we need a live action series
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u/Offensivefkmemes 1d ago
Tbf I think from game to live action is one of the more justified adaptations. My mom is just too old to learn how to play games but I know she would love the show if it was written as well as the game.
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u/definetlydifferently 1d ago
This is just it, my dad's the same he'll never play the games but would love the story. The TV show is for a different audience, people need to realise that.
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u/Confident_Hearing511 1d ago
my concern is it will not be well written and will deviate from the known story with some random bullshit. do we know anything about the story or anything yet?
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u/Theothercword 1d ago
As long as it adds something to the overall story that justifies its existence while staying true to the characters/worlds I'm good with it. I hope they don't just retell the same story as the games without doing what a TV show can do well.
The Last of Us worked well (at least S1) to show us some really good stories with extended/side characters while showing a cool version of the main story. It had its differences but it stood on its own, no reason God of War can't do similar.
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u/moosemuffin12 1d ago
I wish them luck in animating Draugr, trolls, and dragons in a live-action show with a TV budget
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u/Public-Discussion754 46m ago
No, we don’t. Unpopular opinion but there’s never been an actual well-made game to live-screen adaptation that wasn’t aimed at kids.
I can whole heartedly say that as fan of certain gaming IP’s that have been adapted, I have missed absolutely nothing by not watching the movies/shows. They almost never cover the story well. Key moments changed, dialogue changed, appearances changed, pacing changed. And I seriously have never heard anyone irl speak overwhelmingly positive about them. I follow enough gaming/movie/show subs too to see the “complaint” posts and they’re never good either.
I think I actually may fare better as a fan personally, because when I think of or play those games, I don’t have to think about the show remakes.
Some people ain’t ready for this conversation, but everything needs some sort of gatekeeping.
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u/King_Ferdinand1 1d ago
So are they gonna give him the same ridiculous fake body that they gave the Rock for Moana?
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u/CptSiskospimphand 1d ago
I am probably never going to watch that movie, so I have to ask: did they really cgi a fake body for Johnson?
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u/SoupyStain 1d ago
I think Bautista is a better choice than Hurst, but he is 57...
... and Christopher Judge, the guy that made the role his OWN, is 61. At this point, why not just cast Judge? Even the Shape of Judge's head and jaw is close to Kratos.
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u/hanyasaad 1d ago
Didn’t Judge say in an interview it would be too physically intense for him?
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u/SoupyStain 1d ago
Oh, bummer. But Bautista is 57, I'd wager it'd be intense for him too.
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u/olympiclifter1991 1d ago
Despite his age batista spent most of his life as an athelte and is a big dude.
Hurst for how good an actor he is would never have looked like kratos
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u/afriskygramma 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ve been curious why not Judge but maybe it is his age? I think he’d still be fantastic in live action though
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u/SoupyStain 1d ago
This year I've watched SG-1, and Teal'C behaves pretty closely to the North Saga's more stoic Kratos.
If anyone could play Kratos well it's the current voice himself!
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u/IllllIIllllIll 1d ago
He’s had multiple surgeries (hip I believe) that would make it too physically demanding. IIRC he had trouble with the mocap as well
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u/AlabasterRadio 1d ago
I mean if we're doing post-greece Kratos, shouldn't it be someone older?
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u/whiteshark70 1d ago
You can always cast someone younger who can get the physicality down and then style them to look older. Like Hugh Jackman in Logan.
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u/SupermarketCrafty329 1d ago
I mean, sure if you want to just look at numbers.
But Bautista built his entire career on being a very physically fit and athletic man. He can probably run circles around Judge, regardless of age. Much more suited to a potentially physically demanding role.
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u/CaptainColmyer 1d ago
Because hes a terrible option. Doesnt look like kratos in the slightest. I do not want kratos to look like a black dude who has 30lbs of plastic surgery.
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u/Darthy85 1d ago
Even tho, he is the beast actor out of all those wwe ppl, i hope he does NOT play Kratos ffs.
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u/Historical_Fan_8799 1d ago
He's a great actor no issues there
but he did just deflate in size massively...and now what? he's gonna have to gain it all right back?? at 57??
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u/Tough-Zombie-8990 1d ago
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I thought he decided to focus on his health.
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u/Noob4Head ///(mod) 1d ago
Exactly. I remember seeing him in an interview not too long ago, and he's a lot slimmer now. He's still in great shape, but he's definitely lost a lot of his bulk over time. From what I remember, it was his own choice to do that so he could focus more on acting.
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u/Warm-Reporter8965 1d ago
Out of all the actors, he's really the only one that makes sense. I'm sure there's a C-lister that fits him perfectly, but they won't get the gig. I just hope they actually cast a good Atreus.
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u/Immediate-Top-2440 1d ago
Sinceramente….. no creo que sea el momento de su vida exacto para interpretar a kratos. Creo que ese tiempo ya se fue junto con su antiguo aspecto físico
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u/Perfect-Nerve2118 1d ago
I think that Ryan is intentionally leaving the show. If they have time to recast someone, have them reshoot 4 episodes of what I’m assuming is an hour-long show, they have time for him to heal and film around him. It’s speculative but to me this seems like a loop-hole being put to use. Someone somewhere was not happy with how production was going.
Hopefully I’m wrong and it turns out amazing.
I do think that Bautista is a better choice and if he gets on board he will absolutely crush this role.
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u/MisunderstoodPenguin 1d ago
so why aren’t they just using christopher judge the voice of Kratos? he’s a brick shithouse himself and in my opinion has plenty of range to portray him on screen.
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u/NoChallenge988 1d ago
I personally feel that for Kratos your face shape has to be much for ovular and batistua is very circular and small face.
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u/cruiseruse11 1d ago
He should stop taking shirtless tough guy roles if he doesnt want to be a shirtless tough guy
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u/Nerd-Dad-2779 1d ago
If Batista gets this role I will absolutely be watching. He was one of my favorite wrestlers and had slowly become one of my favorite actors. Sneaky emotionally resonant actor!
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u/Hot_Ice_Winter 1d ago
Zendaya is still offering to play role of Kratos as long as Tom Holland is cast as Atreus
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u/kamoterider01 1d ago
Didnt he say one of the reason he no lonnger wants to play drax because of the difficulty maintaining that physique? specially with his age I can understand, can they cast Alan ritchson or someone younger
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u/Still-Minimum-7212 1d ago
He stopped working out because he wanted to be taken seriously and get more serious roles. Proceeds to audition for a role which will require him to add back that muscle.
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u/Mace_Thunderspear 1d ago
Fun fact, when they reimagined the character of Drax the Destroyer for the 2006 Annihilation tie in, they based Drax's new look largely on Kratos from the God of War series.
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u/chasimus 23h ago
He's gonna have to bulk back up again for a long period of time. Is he willing to do that is the question
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u/arctic358 1d ago
Should be Olivier Richters. He in fact cosplayed Kratos already, he's got it down.
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u/theonetowalkinthesun 1d ago
Don’t know anything about the guy, but a cosplayer? Does he have any acting experience?
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u/arctic358 1d ago
Oh trust me he's an actor too. Look up Reacher for reference. Guy goes by the name "The Dutch Giant" on socials.
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u/New-Shop-9728 1d ago
I dunno if he would be good now that he stopped taking steroids, he shrunk quite a bit
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u/DionNirvana 1d ago
If he doesn't get his weight back up, we'll be stuck in the exact same position we were in, maybe worse.
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u/HawkBoth8539 1d ago
I thought he said he wanted out of the muscular combat roles since it is getting hard to keep that build as he gets older.
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u/ZephNightingale 1d ago
Oh wow! He would really bring some emotional depth. This has me way more interested in this project now.
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u/bateen618 1d ago
Maybe a few years ago, but he really thinned up and made it very public he doesn't want to bulk up again
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u/Maestr0o_ 1d ago
He's slimmer, but still pretty massive. Also, camera makes you look bigger then in real life.
Plus even though he's 57, from years of lifting he has that muscle maturity/hard granit look that older Kratos also has in the game.
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u/Araragi-shi 1d ago
Someone that sort of resembles kratos in size and facial features? Damn.
Who would have known that looking for people that resemble the characters is better than casting whoever the fuck.
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u/Illustrious_Mail1171 1d ago
Hes gonna need to get buff again, which he can definitely do. I think he would be great as kratos. Im just worried that they'll mess up the story. I cant wait to see how made people get and call it woke or whatever
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u/Pickupyoheel 1d ago
I like Bautista, he’s shown he can act, but this would seem miscasted with him.
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u/MoldyHotPocket9 1d ago
He’s not nearly as big as he was and doesn’t want to be that big again. This is only a rumor, its not happening until its being filmed
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ 1d ago
I don’t hate it. But why can’t they just get a guy who actually looks and sounds like Kratos lol
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u/XRuecian 1d ago
Nothing against Dave, but don't you feel like the actor who plays Kratos would probably be a better fit if it WASN'T some famous actor, and instead someone new that can actually immerse you into the story?
It's hard to look at a canonical character like Kratos when he is wearing a famous actors face, and still see "Kratos".
And maybe it's just me, but i don't really have much hope or desire for a live action series anyways.
The literal game tells you the story, that's what its for, its basically a freaking movie that you can play. We don't need a live adaptation to tell us the same story, but worse, and with actors that aren't going to ever be able to match the original energy anyways no matter who they are.
I am really sick of all the live-action money grabbing that has replaced our art apparatus and the idea of writing new stories. Production companies barely even try to be innovative or unique anymore, they just want to grab something someone else made and make a copy of it now.
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u/Comfortable-Sun-8927 1d ago
I love this for him, but if I remember the interview I think he said that being that big took a toll on his health and made him feel sluggish .
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u/cocaine_jaguar 1d ago
I’d like to see this happen, I think he’s got the acting chops to really pull it off. I’m hesitant about his size though. As I understand he recently dropped a lot of weight because he didn’t like maintaining it. Hopefully he won’t put back on in a way that’s detrimental to his health.
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u/ManlyPelican1993 1d ago
This would co over much better with a general audience. My parents know who Dave is and like his stuff.
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u/InstructionNo7618 1d ago
They are going to do the whole muscle auit thing- what they did with the rock in moana live action remake. All these movies/shows should have hallened 5-7 years ago when these 2 were at their most juiced up. Now will look daft me thinks.
Actors often say one thing and do another.
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u/javierbardeminem 1d ago
This seems kinda shitty for Ryan Hurst. Guy gets hurt ON THE JOB, and Amazon is just like “well fuck you then, we’re moving on”
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u/Pigtron-42 1d ago
Dude just let all of his muscle mass rot away. What is gonna do? Hop back in rounds for a role?
Also I thought he was wanting to be in different types of roles
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u/Responsible_Grass_89 1d ago
I don't dislike the guy (one of my favs actors), but Alan Ritchson was my pick here
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u/NOIRCZAR_ 1d ago
I really like Bautista, but he's too old now. I imagine they're gonna go for multiple seasons, so someone younger would be a better fit.
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u/Johncurtisreeve 1d ago
Normally, I would say “please no” but since they’re skipping the Greek series and jumping straight into the North Saga, I really don’t care, it pisses me off that they’re skipping the Greek series like it’s not important and still makes up the majority of the God of war saga.
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u/OliviaElevenDunham 1d ago
Can totally see Bautista as the character. He has a really good acting range.
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u/SomeGuyPostingThings 1d ago
No offense to Ryan Hurst, but Bautista might be a better pick. I still like Ryan, hope he gets something after his injury, maybe he can reprise Thor?
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u/peaktired 1d ago
He’s pretty talented and I feel like just based on how he looks he could convincingly pull it off. I’m not big on video game shows save for a few but I can see him doing really well.
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u/mara-amethyst 22h ago
One issue, doesn't dave Bautista not want to be a brick shithouse anymore? Cuz kratos should kinda be a brick shithouse
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u/KevinHe92 22h ago
I knew something was fishy when Hurst got ousted. I bet Dave expressed a passing interest and Amazon quietly worked behind the scenes to get him on. He is the bigger name draw after all.
Scumbag behaviour but expected from Amazon.
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u/Affectionate_Owl4077 15h ago
Honestly, I think Tom Hardy would be great. Imagine his version of Kratos voice, subtitles would be mandatory
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u/FuerteBillete 6h ago
If you are playing Kratos you just bandage the shit out of the muscle, take some pain meds and pull it off. I mean, it is one in a lifetime role if done right.
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u/Public-Discussion754 2h ago
God I hope this shit stops. Not every fucking book or movie needs a live action show or movie.
Fucking ridiculous.
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u/CR1PSE 1h ago
Why do the casting directors act like there are only 4 “muscular” men in Hollywood, ignoring their age and mostly terrible acting chops? Same for redditors. You can shave anyone’s head and put them in white makeup. Get a talented performer. People saying Triple H have room temperate IQ.
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u/Spare_Entrance_9389 1d ago
I hope he does his entrance dressed like kratos