Christopher Judge, the actor who plays Kratos in the modern God of War series, criticized film studios' approach to video game adaptations. During his appearance at Fan Expo, the actor stated that when bringing successful projects to the screen, companies too often reject the people who created the original:
"My problem with all game adaptations is this: you already have a successful work, and the first thing you decide is not to hire anyone who worked on it."
As an example, Judge cited the HBO series "The Last of Us." The actor praised Pedro Pascal but questioned the need to change the original cast, especially when individual scenes of the adaptation closely replicate the game:
"I liked Pedro. But were they better than the actors from the game? I saw a stage reading with the original cast – it was incredible. I don't understand why you can't take the same actors and writers, especially when you're reshooting individual episodes almost shot for shot."
Judge was even more surprised by Amazon's approach to the God of War series. Neil Druckmann, one of the creators of the original game, was at least involved in the creation of "The Last of Us," working on the first two seasons of the adaptation. In the case of God of War, none of the game series' authors were among the screenwriters:
"When Amazon finally approved the series and it turned out they hadn't hired a single God of War writer, I thought, 'What are you thinking?' These people have been immersed in this world for 20 years, but someone decided they knew it better?"
There are also few ties to the original games in the cast. After the replacement of Ryan Hurst, who voiced Thor in God of War Ragnarök, the only actor returning to his role is Alastair Duncan, who will once again play Mimir. Other members of the team who worked on the games are not involved in the creation of the series.