God of War to recast Ryan Hurst as Kratos after serious on-set injury
God of War to recast Ryan Hurst as Kratos after serious on-set injury
Jacob Stolworthy Fri, July 17, 2026 at 8:52 AM UTC
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Ryan Hurst has been replaced as ‘God of War’s lead star (Getty)
After undergoing a hulking physical transformation and completing four episodes of God of War, Ryan Hurst is reportedly being replaced in the lead role due to a serious on-set injury.
Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead actor Hurst – who can currently be seen in Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey – was cast as the brutal Spartan warrior Kratos in Prime Video’s video game adaptation.
But last month, according to TMZ, he tore a bicep while filming a stunt and is now recovering after surgery.
Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television reportedly paused production on the series. But Deadline has claimed that the length of time required for Hurst, 50, to recover is too lengthy and that the big-budget series will forge ahead without him.
Hurst would have likely needed up to a year for it to be deemed safe for the actor to perform the action scenes required for the series. He had already filmed four episodes, which will now reportedly be reshot with a new actor, and production is believed to resume in Vancouver this October.
The Independent has contacted Prime Video and Hurst for comment.
God of War was first released as a video game for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. The earlier games in the series are based on Greek mythology and follow Kratos on his path of vengeance against the Olympian gods. The later games draw on Norse mythology and depict Kratos on a path toward redemption, introducing his son, Atreus, as they interact with various Norse gods and figures.
Amazon announced it had ordered a live-action series in 2022. The series, developed by Ronald D Moore (Battlestar Galactica), follows Kratos and Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye.
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Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human, according to the series’ official logline.
The first-look image of 'God of War' with Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson (Prime Video)
Also starring in the series are Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri and Danny Woodburn as Brok.
Hurst's big break was playing Opie Winston in Sons of Anarchy and he went on to play the villainous Beta in zombie series The Walking Dead. He also portrayed Thor in the 2022 video game God of War Ragnarök and can be seen in The Odyssey, playing Mentor, Telemachus' guide in Ithaca.
Back in March, David Jaffe, the creator of the video game franchise, issued damning criticism of the show’s first-look image of Hurst in character as Kratos.
Jaffe said that the picture, which showed Kratos, standing with his hands on his knees, watching his son Atreus (Callum Vinson) shoot a bow and arrow in the woods, was “dumb”.
“Kratos in this pose with this expression, not the guy’s face, but this expression, he just looks stupid,” he said. “If you’re going to reveal, to most people, a brand new character that you hope is going to carry your series, for the first time, and they’ve never really seen this before, and this is the way you introduce them?”
He considered that the character’s appearance might be a conscious decision to portray Kratos as more than vengeful and rage-filled. “Maybe they’re like, ‘Well, what we really want to focus on is the father-son story. And if we focus on him being like, Spartan rage, and all that, maybe people are like, ‘I don’t want to watch that show,’” he suggested.
“OK maybe. But then, at that point, could you find a picture that doesn’t look like he’s s***ting in the woods? Cause that’s what the picture looks like.”
However, he added that showrunner Moore is “awesome” and “talented,” stating that he has no doubt the live-action series will ultimately be good.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
