The creator of God of War did not hold back when he saw the first photo released from Prime Video’s big-budget adaptation of his blockbuster PlayStation game.
David Jaffe took to YouTube and ripped almost every element of the rather low-key photo that shows star Ryan Hurst as Kratos with his son Atreus, played by Callum Vinson, hunting in the woods. From Hurst’s expression and pose to Atreus’ styled hair, to a fake-looking rock in the background, Jaffe had plenty of notes.
“I’m sure everybody’s trying real hard, but it’s so dumb,” Jaffe said (below), adding it was “a terrible image.”
Jaffe said he didn’t care about the ways in which Hurst’s Kratos looks different from the game: “A good actor is a good actor, and that’s all you need. I’d much rather have a great actor who embodies the essence of the character and makes the character endearing or memorable or iconic than looks just like the person in the video game.”
Buuuuuut…
“It is so bad in so many ways,” he marveled. “[Kratos] just looks stupid. If you are 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 him before, and this is the way you introduce them? Maybe [Prime Video’s team was] like, ‘We really want to focus on the father-son story, and if we focus on him being, like, Spartan rage, maybe people are like, I don’t want to watch that show.’ But could you find a picture that doesn’t look like he’s shitting in the woods? Because that’s what the picture looks like … Neither of these characters look very interesting or appealing. If this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber edition, this is what you would expect, like it’s a comedy.”
Prime Video’s official first look at ‘God of War.’ Ryan Hurst as Kratos and Callum Vinson as Atreus.
Jaffe continued: “Hurst, after this official look was released, [reacted to fan backlash on Instagram by writing], ‘Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids.’ Well, then why is goddamn Prime Video releasing it? This isn’t some behind-the-scenes thing that somebody snuck [in and photographed] from the set. This is an official release from Amazon, who’s producing the show. So I don’t know what the fuck [his comment] means.”
And then there was Atreus’ hair. “His hair looks like it’s got tons of product in it,” he said. “He looks like he’s kind of a very confused little boy with way too much product in his hair.”
Annnnnnd that rock: “The most offensive thing about this entire image is the styrofoam rock. You would think in a world of CG and AI and over a century of movie magic of real time, practical effects … The rock is … probably fine … it’s the lack of lighting it in a proper way. This looks like what you would go into a hobby store and buy for your fucking train set.”
All that said: Despite being displeased by pretty much every aspect of the official first photo of God of War, Jaffe still has plenty of hope for the series, which he emphasized at the start of his comments.
“[Showrunner] Ron Moore is awesome,” he said and noted he was behind the Syfy’s reboot of Battlestar Galactica and Starz’ Outlander as well as worked on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. “The guy is a juggernaut of a talented fellow. I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be a good show. I’m not worried about the show.”
Prime Video had no immediate comment.
God of War already has a two-season commitment. Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye (Shōgun) directing the first two episodes. The series will follow the storyline of the two most recent God of War games, which has Kratos and Atreus embarking “on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. 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.”
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfaGuGlpP-g&t=407s
