Prime Video is recasting the lead role of Kratos in its God of War series. Star Ryan Hurst tore a bicep while performing a stunt in late June, Deadline first reported. The Kratos recast follows months of physical training and filming Hurst put in on the show’s Vancouver set. He had added 40 pounds of muscle for the transformation.
The decision followed careful consideration by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, the show’s co-producers. Hurst underwent surgery for the injury, first reported by TMZ, and is now recovering. Bicep tears requiring surgery typically take four to six months to heal. A full return to strength can take up to a year. That timeline likely ruled out clearing Hurst to resume the physically demanding role before 2027.
The Kratos recast timeline
Production paused immediately after Hurst’s injury and remains on hiatus. Four episodes had already been completed, and those will be reshot with the incoming actor. Prep on the new plan is expected to begin in mid-August, with filming resuming in mid-October. Callum Vinson, the child actor who plays Kratos’s son Atreus, made reusing existing footage impractical, since young actors change appearance quickly between shoots.
Hurst was announced as Kratos in January 2026, capping a search that drew attention across the gaming and television press. The recast leaves him out of a role he had spent half a year preparing to play, just as production was gathering momentum.
A rare move in TV production
Recasting a lead after an on-set injury remains uncommon. O’Shea Jackson Jr. replaced Winston Duke on Apple TV’s Swagger in February 2020 after Duke was hurt early in Season 1 production. Netflix halted Cowboy Bebop for seven to nine months after lead John Cho injured his knee during filming in October 2019. That series resumed nearly a year later with Cho still attached.
Hurst’s setback lands the same week Christopher Nolan‘s Odyssey opens in theaters, a film that also features him in a supporting role.
What God of War is about
God of War, created by writer and showrunner Ronald D. Moore, began filming in February on a two-season order, with both seasons shot back-to-back. The series follows Kratos and his son Atreus as they carry out a journey to spread the ashes of Faye, Kratos’s late wife. Atreus tries to teach his father how to be more human, while Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god.
The supporting cast includes:
- Mandy Patinkin as Odin
- Ed Skrein as Baldur
- Max Parker as Heimdall
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor
- Teresa Palmer as Sif
- Alastair Duncan as Mimir
- Jeff Gulka as Sindri
- Danny Woodburn as Brok
Joe Menosky, Marc Bernardin, Tania Lotia and Ben McGinnis are co-executive producers alongside Moore, and Frederick E.O. Toye directed the first two episodes.