Among all the video game adaptations currently in the works in Hollywood, few hold the same promise as Amazon’s God of War television series. The original God of War games – especially the 2018 and 2022 installments of the series – boast a cinematic quality that would make them easier to adapt to the big or small screen compared to most video games. Despite this fact, Amazon has not made much progress in adapting God of War in the two years since it was given the green light for a series.
In fact, the project has taken a big step back. Reports suggest that the original deadline for God of War saw lead actor Rafe Judkins, along with his fellow executive producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus, parting ways with the project. This development comes even after the trio completed multiple scripts for the intended first season of the show, due to Sony Pictures TV and Amazon MGM Studios’ joint desire to take the series in a new creative direction.
Yumi Yang and Corey Barlog, the developers of God of War at Santa Monica Studio, are still involved in the television program as executive producers, along with Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Yumi Land, and Roy Lee. To move forward, Amazon and Sony are reportedly planning to assemble a completely new team of writers for God of War and start fresh from scratch.
Amazon is no stranger to high-profile video game adaptations. Earlier this year, the platform premiered the highly anticipated show Wheel of Time, inspired by the video game series of the same name, and quickly became one of the biggest TV shows of the year. Rafe Judkins also has a history with Amazon as the showrunner of Wheel of Time, which first aired on Prime Video in 2021.
It has been previously confirmed that Amazon’s God of War will focus the series on the Norse era of the franchise. Assuming Sony and Amazon do not intend to completely stray from this approach, this means that the series will resume with the novel’s protagonist, Kratos, after years of leaving behind his blood-soaked days fueled by vengeance as the Greek God of War. The 2018 God of War follows Kratos specifically as he embarks on an epic quest with his son, Atreus, to fulfill his late wife’s final wish to scatter her ashes from the highest peak of a mountain in the Norse world of Midgard. Along the way, Kratos and Atreus must fight for their lives against numerous Norse gods, monsters, and other legendary characters.
It is unclear at this point what the status of Judkins, Ostby, and Fergus is, which led Sony and Amazon to decide to part ways with God of War completely. Considering the success of Wheel of Time and the popularity of the God of War franchise, it is logical for the studios to pay more attention to the new adaptation – even if that means the possibility of delaying the premiere for several more years.
