This is a huge change for Prime Video’s God of War adaptation: After star Ryan Hurst’s on-set injury last month, the video game adaptation will recast the lead role of Kratos. As Deadline reports, Hurst tore a bicep, a serious injury that required surgery and will involve months of recovery. Deadline writes that “while Hurst’s full recovery is a priority, the period required for it was longer than the production shooting schedule could accommodate, leading to the difficult decision to recast the role.”
Hurst had reportedly gained 40 pounds of muscle for the physically demanding role; as the character description says, “Kratos is Spartan by birth, and a god by nature. Raised in a martial culture, he rose to command armies in service of his homeland until one day he made a fateful deal with Ares, the Greek God of War and lost his soul in exchange for being victorious in battle.”
Deadline says that four episodes had been completed when Hurst was injured—and now those will all have to be reshot with a new lead. That lead will join Callum Vinson, who plays Kratos’ son, along with castmates Mandy Patinkin (Odin), Ed Skrein (Baldur), Max Parker (Heimdall), Sonya Walger (Freya), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Thor), Teresa Palmer (Sif), Alastair Duncan (Mimir), Jeff Gulka (Sindri), and Danny Woodburn (Brok).
God of War is expected to resume production this fall.
