It’s time for the new God of War . It’s awesome. I would know, I wrote our review for it. But the thing about God of War is, it’s so ridiculously story and reveal-heavy, even in its gameplay, it’s hard to mine this bad boy for content without spoilers. But the universe demands God of War takes. If I can’t deep dive to provide out dear readers with the hot takes they deserve, what can I do? Well, let’s find something tangentially related to speculate about. How about a God of War movie that totally doesn’t, but theoretically could, exist?
Sometime in 2017, resident Hollywood beard-haver Jason Momoa said in an interview that he is both A) aware that Kratos is a character that exists and B) would play him in a movie probably because he looks kinda the part and also likes money. This was during the Justice League marketing run, and in that movie, Momoa plays Aquaman. As Aquaman, Momoa drinks alcohol, has a beard, and does a Samoan schtick that’s pretty effective the one or two times Aquaman does something interesting. Now, these are all things that don’t match Kratos at all, but he does smash some supernatural bad guys with a large, pointy weapon, and that’s totally something Kratos would do. Points for Aquaman.
Momoa is also famous for playing Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones . As Khal Drogo, Momoa has morally questionable sex, yells a lot, has a beard, kills people, and speaks very limited English. Now we’re talking. Shave Drogo’s head, spray some white paint on his face, and boom! Kratos is ready to go! The setting’s all wrong of course, and he totally dies before he can do anything really worthwhile (like most Game of Thrones characters), but hey, we know Momoa can do the bit with little effort.
But the new Kratos isn’t just about yelling and murder. He’s a dad now and has regrets. Also, his beard is much bigger. Momoa would have to grow his extremely kempt beard out to a more scraggly look and get it weathered a bit in wardrobe. They’d also have to age him more, and he might need to lose some of his immaculately sculpted physique as well. The new, cool Kratos is kinda aged and haggard, and that’s part of his appeal. The less-flawed Kratos isn’t cool anymore, after all.
Momoa would also have to demonstrate his acting chops a lot more than before. He can’t just be gruff or wacky like Aquaman. He has to be sad, and be sad for the whole movie. Very few actors can pull off sad dad for a whole movie, without any breaks in tone. It’s a lot harder to frown than smile after all, according to most people. He’ll also need to be able to work with a child actor who will inevitably upstage him, as Atreus is a much more appealing character from the get-go.
So would Jason Mamoa playing Kratos in a God of War movie work? Probably! He has the physical presence for it, that’s for sure. He hasn’t really been in anything of substance I’m aware of that would prove his acting chops, but it’s hard to tell what kind of talent a God of War movie would need without a creative team in mind. Honestly he might fit more in a movie based on the older games, but I don’t think anyone would actually want to watch that. Young Kratos is old and busted, while aging dad Kratos is the new hotness.