The Amazon God of War series returns to the early development stage.
The Amazon television series of God of War has faced a major setback.
Amazon is working on a television adaptation of the popular video game saga God of War, and while this production has great potential, it has faced some notable setbacks. Although the original games, especially the versions from 2018 and 2022, have a cinematic quality that suggests the adaptation should be easier, recent news indicates that progress has been limited since the series was announced two years ago.
It was recently confirmed that Rafe Judkins, who was in charge of the production as showrunner, along with executive producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus, have left the project. This decision was made effective despite the team having worked on several scripts for the first season, and both studios, Sony Pictures TV and Amazon MGM Studios, expressed their desire to explore a new creative direction for the series.
Despite this change in direction, other original team members remain on the project, including Yumi Yang and Cory Barlog from Santa Monica Studio, as well as Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Yumi Land, and Roy Lee. Reportedly, Amazon and Sony plan to assemble a new team of writers to restart the project from scratch.
This is not the first time Amazon has been involved in high-profile video game adaptations; this year they launched the live-action series Fallout, which quickly became a major television success. For his part, Rafe Judkins has also found success with Amazon, serving as the showrunner for The Wheel of Time since its premiere in 2021.
The God of War series will focus on the Norse Era of the franchise, where the protagonist, Kratos, embarks on an adventure with his son Atreus, with the goal of fulfilling his wife’s last wish: to spread her ashes from the top of the highest mountain in the Norse realm of Midgard. Along the way, they will face various Norse gods, monsters, and mythological figures.
Despite the fame of the God of War franchise and the success of studios like Amazon, the reasons for discarding Judkins’ and his team’s vision are still unclear. However, it is understandable that they want to be cautious with this adaptation, even if that means possible delays in its release.
