Updated

Updated · The Verge · Jul 17

Amazon Recasts Kratos After 4 Episodes as Ryan Hurst's Bicep Injury Halts God of War

Updated

Updated · The Verge · Jul 17

Amazon Recasts Kratos After 4 Episodes as Ryan Hurst's Bicep Injury Halts God of War

Q: Will the four lost episodes starring Ryan Hurst ever be released to the public?

Probably not. Everything reported so far indicates the four completed episodes with Ryan Hurst will be reshot, not finished and released in any official form. The key production facts point that way. Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios decided to replace Hurst because his recovery timeline did not fit the series’ schedule, and production is expected to restart with a new Kratos. Since Kratos is the central character, the existing footage is no longer usable as part of the final series. The reports also note that Callum Vinson, who plays Atreus, is a child actor whose visible growth makes mixing old and new footage especially difficult. There is also no indication in the available reporting that Amazon or Sony plan to release Hurst’s episodes separately, as bonus content, or as a special edition. Studios almost never publicly release abandoned episodes from an unfinished version of a major scripted series, especially when they are being replaced for continuity and scheduling reasons. That said, unless the studios explicitly rule it out, a limited release is not impossible in theory. Footage like this could someday surface in a behind-the-scenes documentary, awards reel, archive, or promotional retrospective. But based on the current reporting, viewers should expect those four episodes to remain unreleased and to be replaced by reshot versions with the new actor.

Q: After a star's shocking injury, who will now become the new face of 'God of War'?

No one has been publicly named yet as the new face of Prime Video’s “God of War.” What is confirmed is that Ryan Hurst, who had been cast as Kratos, is out after tearing a bicep during a stunt on set in Vancouver. Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios decided to recast because his recovery timeline—months for healing and potentially up to a year for full strength—would push his safe return too far beyond the show’s production schedule. The series had already completed four episodes with Hurst, but those episodes are expected to be reshot with the replacement actor once production resumes. Prep for the new Kratos actor is reportedly set to begin in mid-August, with filming targeted to restart in mid-October. So the key update is that Kratos will be played by a new actor, but the studio has not yet officially announced who that actor is.

3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Jul 17

Four completed episodes of Amazon's God of War series will be reshot after lead actor Ryan Hurst exited the role of Kratos following a stunt-related bicep tear.
Production has been paused and is targeting a mid-October restart, but Hurst reportedly cannot recover from surgery in time to continue in the physically demanding part.
Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television have not named a replacement for Hurst, who had been cast in January and reportedly added 40 pounds of muscle for the role.
The recast adds another delay to the live-action adaptation of the 2018 game, which was first announced in 2022 and is now facing the rare task of replacing its lead mid-production.