“At the center of it all is this story of fathers and sons, and families, set against this giant epic landscape.”
Following a strong showing from God of War Ragnarök at the Game Awards 2022, taking home the most overall awards from the yearly showcase, fans of Kratos and Atreus were excited to hear that Prime Video announced a series order for a live-action God of War series. With any type of adaptation, whether it be books, games, or any other medium, it can be exciting to see your favorite franchises in a new way, but there is also the fear that it can stray too heavily from the source material.
Recently, Collider’s own Steven Weintraub had the chance to talk with Amazon Studios’ Head of Television Vernon Sanders, and ask him about the upcoming series, during which Sanders assured fans that the series will stay true to the game. The conversation was part of a larger interview about the success of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was viewed by over 100 million people worldwide, with more than 24 billion minutes streamed. In the interview, Weintraub asked Sanders what he was most excited to show fans and what about the universe was so appealing to Prime Studios. Sanders mentions their track record with strong adaptations and that it is the strong emotional core that really resonates with them.
“We do incredibly well with adaptations, from Invincible to The Boys. I mean, we just covered so many of them, right? And so we know that there’s such a passionate fan base for God of War. But the thing that we’re always looking for is whether there is a real emotional core, if there’s a real narrative story, and I think [that’s] part of what makes God of War so special.”
Sanders also talked highly of what the creatives behind the upcoming series are making for the show, once again referencing the emotional core of the father-son story and what will see in the first season (a notable thing to say as we could be seeing multiple seasons for the series) and that it won’t get away from what made the original story so special.
“At the center of it all is this story of fathers and sons, and families, set against this giant epic landscape. So what Rafe [Judkins] (showrunner) and Mark [Fergus] and Hawk [Ostby] (writers) have come up with for the first season, and for the series, I think, is both incredibly true to the source material, and also compelling on its own. If you never played the game, you will fall in love with the show and feel very much invited in. So we think it’s going to be huge.”
The Expansive World of God of War
While the God of War franchise started in 2005 and followed Kratos through his raged-fueled destruction of the Greek Pantheon, the upcoming series at Prime Video will follow the 2018 entry that follows a much older and scarred Kratos in the Norse realm of Midgard. The story sees Kratos attempt to wrestle with his past and look out for his son, Atreus after the death of his wife Faye as the two go on a realm-trotting journey to fulfill her final wish to spread her ashes from the highest peak in all the realms. As Sanders referenced, the series will see The Wheel of Time’s Rafe Judkins serve as showrunner and executive producer. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby have boarded the series as writers and executive producers with the director of the 2018 video game Cory Barlog also coming on as executive producer.
Stay tuned to Collider for future updates on the upcoming God of War live-action series at Prime Video. For more on Gods of War, here’s the trailer for God of War Ragnarök.
