Get ready for War.
One of the most popular PlayStation video game series of the past few years is coming to television, as Amazon has announced it is developing a God of War series for its Prime Video streaming service. The show will be produced by Rafe Judkins, who previously worked on Amazon’s The Wheel of Time series.
The God of War series has been an ongoing franchise for PlayStation since 2005. Although the stories differ and evolve, they all follow a Spartan warrior named Kratos on extremely bloody quests for revenge; he often battles (and then absorbs the powers of) the various gods of ancient Greece. The press release for Amazon’s adaptation indicates the TV series will be specifically based on the 2018 game for PlayStation 4, which was technically the eighth game in the series. Here is the official synopsis for the show:
The series follows Kratos, the God of War, who, after exiling himself from his blood-soaked past in ancient Greece, hangs up his weapons forever in the Norse realm of Midgard. When his beloved wife dies, Kratos sets off on a dangerous journey with his estranged son to spread her ashes from the highest peak — his wife’s final wish. Kratos soon realizes the journey is an epic quest in disguise, one which will test the bonds between father and son, and force Kratos to battle new Gods and monsters for the fate of the world.
After years of middling-to-unbearable video game movies, many creators have finally realized that games, with their intricate mythologies and long stories, may be better suited to TV adaptations. Paramount+ recently streamed a Halo series, while HBO is working on The Last of Us. Amazon also has a Fallout TV show in development as well.
Even by the standards of streaming television, the God of War games can be extremely bloody and violent, and may need to be toned down a little for TV viewing. Still, it’s easy to imagine the concept working as a television show with the right creators and cast.
