“God of War” TV show is being reset on Prime Video

Key insights

• Development on the God of War TV series has unexpectedly stalled despite several scripts being written.
• Key creatives Rafe Judkins, Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus left the series.
• Ronald D. Moore has stepped in as the new showrunner.

With video game adaptations becoming a popular trend recently, it wasn’t a big surprise that Prime Video was eyeing an adaptation of Sony Santa Monica’s popular PlayStation hit. God of war. But now the development of the series has unexpectedly changed direction.

Prime Video has officially ordered a God of war TV show for the series in December 2022, with Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions as co-producers. The studios hired Rafe Judkins as showrunner, who is also leading another major series for Prime Video The Wheel of Time. The vastness Producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus were also on board God of war series as executive producers. God of War Longtime creative director, writer and producer Cory Barlog is also producing the TV adaptation.

When writing on the God of war When the series ran in January 2024, there was a blockage. Deadline reported last week that Prime Video hit the reset button on the series and Judkins, Ostby and Fergus exited the TV series. The trio left the company despite having written several scripts that Sony and Prime Video were reportedly happy with. The report cites “a new creative direction” as the reason for the restructuring. On Tuesday, Deadline reported in a follow-up that the series had found its new showrunner Star Trek Creator Ronald D. Moore.

The God of war The franchise spans nearly 20 years of games, which represents great story potential for the TV series. However, initial reports indicated that Prime Video would be focusing on 2018 God of war Game for its adaptation set in the Norse mythology era of the franchise. This story follows Kratos after he leaves his bloody past in the Greek world behind him and has since settled in Midgard with his young son Atreus. The duo embark on a journey to scatter Atreus’ mother’s ashes on the highest peak in the Nine Realms, as per Atreus’ final wishes, becoming an epic quest that bonds father and son.

During the Nordic era of God of war Games have been highly praised (the 2018 game and its sequel, God of War Ragnarokare two of the highest rated games in the series), but they occur much later in the timeline of Kratos’ story. It’s possible that Prime Video’s new direction would see the series begin with Kratos’ origins in Greece instead, before transitioning to the Norse era in subsequent seasons if the series is successful.

The latest reports also claim this God of war remains a “key asset” for Prime, meaning development is likely to be accelerated. Following the success of other video game adaptations on television, such as HBO’s The Last of UsAnd Fallouts In the first season (also produced for Prime Video), it’s clear that video game IP is a hot commodity in Hollywood right now. A proper adaptation of God of war would undoubtedly meet, if not raise, the high bar set by other prestigious video game adaptations, making it unlikely that Prime Video would let development on the TV series rest for too long.

A God of war The series is in development at Prime Video.