Christopher Judge, the actor who voiced and performed motion-capture for Kratos in the God of War video games, went public with his frustration over Amazon's upcoming TV adaptation of the franchise, saying the decision to exclude the original game's writers was a serious mistake.
Judge's comments, reported by The Wrap, were made during a panel at FanExpo Denver in May and resurfaced online this week. He later posted a statement clarifying his position.
"My problem with all gaming adaptations is you have this pre-existing, successful property, and the first thing you do is not hire anyone associated with it. I don't understand that," Judge said onstage at the event. He also drew a direct comparison to HBO's The Last of Us, another adaptation of a Sony video game.
"'The Last of Us,' love Pedro (Pascal) … Love all of them. I think they're great. Were they better than the game cast? I saw a stage reading that they did in New York, the game cast. It was unreal. I have no idea why you don't just take that cast, those writers, especially when you are going to do episodes that are shot-for-shot remakes of the game. I don't get it."
Judge was direct about his reaction when the God of War series was officially announced without the game's writers attached. "When it was finally approved and announced, and they didn't hire any of the 'God of War' writers, I was like, 'What are you thinking?'" he said. "These guys have been immersed in this world for 20 years. But someone's going to know better? … That thinking just drives me bonkers. You have the chance to bring this great fandom with you, who will give you a shot to get better. Now, you better be great out of the gate. Or we're all leaving."
Judge was careful to separate his criticism from any personal stake in the casting. He said his opinion has "nothing to do" with him not being cast as Kratos and added that he would not want a cameo role either. "Frankly, I'm too old to be live-action Kratos. I'm 62-years-old. I don't want to go for 14 to 18 hour days. I don't want to be in the shape that I would feel was necessary to play Kratos. I don't want to eat like that. I don't want to not see my kids anymore. I've already done that," he said. "This is about everyone else involved with it."
Amazon has not formally announced a writing team for the series. For All Mankind creator Ronald D. Moore is serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Cory Barlog and Yumi Yang are executive producers working through Santa Monica Studios, the developer behind the God of War games.
