Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming adaptation of God of War is not winning any new fans with its divisive first look image, released last week. But that it has also alienated existing fans of the video game should be concerning. Now, David Jaffe, creator of the game, has slammed the first look image, calling it the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ edition of the game.
God of War creator slams show first
The first look of Amazon’s adaptation of God of War showed Kratos (Ryan Hurst) and Atreus (Callum Vinson) in a forest as Kratos oversaw his son taking some archery lessons. God of War is about Spartan soldier Kratos as he accompanies his son Atreus to spread his wife’s ashes on the highest peak of the nine realms. The picture was criticised for not being faithful to the games. In a YouTube video, David Jaffe, the veteran video game designer, addressed the first look and said, “I’m sure everybody’s trying real hard, but it’s so dumb.”
Calling the first look picture “a terrible image,” Jaffe detailed what he found wrong with it. “It is so bad in so many ways. (Kratos) just looks stupid. If you are going to reveal to most people a brand-new character that you hope is going to carry your series for the first time, and they’ve never really seen him before, and this is the way you introduce them? Maybe (Prime Video was] like, ‘We really want to focus on the father-son story, and if we focus on him being, like, Spartan rage, maybe people are like, I don’t want to watch that show.’ But could you find a picture that doesn’t look like he’s shitting in the woods? Because that’s what the picture looks like … Neither of these characters look very interesting or appealing. If this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber edition, this is what you would expect, like it’s a comedy.”
Ryan Hurst, the actor playing Kratos in the show, had defended the first look after criticism, calling for fans to be not quick to judge from just a single image. But David Jaffe disagreed. “Hurst, after this official look was released, ‘Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids.’ Well, then why is goddamn Prime Video releasing it? This isn’t some behind-the-scenes thing that somebody snuck [in and photographed] from the set. This is an official release from Amazon, who’s producing the show. So I don’t know what the f*** (his statement) means.”
All about the God of War series
God of War, commissioned by Amazon Prime Video, marks the first live-action retelling of the globally popular video game franchise. The show will adapt the narrative arc of the two most recent God of War games, which follow Kratos as he attempts to raise his ten-year-old son while navigating the perilous world of Norse mythology.
The series has secured a two-season order at Amazon. Acclaimed television writer and producer Ronald D. Moore serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner under his Tall Ship Productions banner. The series is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios in association with PlayStation Productions and Tall Ship Productions.