Why God Of War's Kratos Voice Actor Didn't Return For The Prime Video Series

Christopher Judge has been the voice of Kratos in the "God of War" video game franchise ever since he took over the role from T.C. Carson. But Judge won't be portraying Kratos in the "God of War" Prime Video adaptation, which is currently in development. Although he revealed at Fan Expo Canada that he had considered going for the role, he soon realized it wasn't for him. "I didn't want to, at 62 years old, work 16-to-18-hour days," he said (via Collider). "I didn't want to be dieting constantly; I didn't want to be working out constantly."

Judge briefly had a change of heart after talking it through with his grandson. So, to prepare, he began to work out and rehearse — until he ran into an unexpected problem. "It was so hard for me to memorize my lines, which I never had a problem with," he continued. "And that was my mind and body starting to tell me, 'You don't want to do this." Although he'd previously held a leading role in "Stargate SG-1," that was decades ago, and he's no longer interested in going back to such a demanding schedule.

Over the years, several famous names have been floated in the conversation about who should play Kratos in the "God of War" series. In August 2026, however, it was reported that Dave Bautista had been picked to star in Prime Video's adaptation of the games. And while it's still unknown when "God of War" will be released, Prime Video has already ordered two seasons, which will be shot back-to-back. Interestingly, though, Bautista wasn't the first choice for the role: Ryan Hurst had been the original Kratos for the "God of War" series, but he was recast after becoming seriously injured during filming. 

And if news of Hursts' departure from the show disappointed some fans, they weren't alone. Christopher Judge also had a problem with Hurst's recasting. "With Ryan, I thought that was absolutely the right choice," he said during Fan Expo Canada. "He's played all the games. He's a gamer and new father; like, who better? Then when he got hurt, it was like, are they going to take time to read with and call people back?" As for Bautista, Judge expressed concern over him having to regain weight in order to play the role. "I think he's going to be great," he said. "I just hope it doesn't cause any health issues to put back on all that weight"