Cory Barlog, director of the popular God of War PlayStation games, has officially debunked rumors that Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson would be cast as Kratos in the upcoming live-action series. Ever since the Amazon TV adaptation of the games was announced in December 2022, the question of who would play Kratos, the rage-filled eponymous God of War, has been a source of intense speculation for fans. Given the character’s physicality, one of the top fan casting choices is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and rumors have recently been circulating that The Rock had indeed been cast as Kratos for the God of War series. Unfortunately, Cory Barlog has officially stepped up to deny those rumors, saying he’d “never heard anything” about the casting.
The game series’ latest entry, God of War: Ragnarok, had come out just a month prior to the show’s announcement, and would eventually go on to win Game of the Year. According to Variety, the show will follow Kratos through the events of God of War (2018), wherein he has moved on from Greece to a “retirement” in the Norse realm of Midgard. But after the death of his wife, Faye, Kratos and his young, estranged son Atreus embark on a dangerous journey to spread her ashes on the tallest peak in all the Nine Realms. Along the way, Kratos learns the journey is “an epic quest in disguise” which will “test the bonds between father and son, and force Kratos to battle new gods and monsters for the fate of the world.”
Rumors Cast Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson as Kratos – True or False?
At the time of its announcement, no casting choices were revealed for the new series. To this day, Amazon and Sony have remained tight-lipped about any of their casting decisions, but top fan picks for the roles range from the characters’ voice actors to a host of WWE wrestlers. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s name has been floating around as a top candidate for Kratos, which isn’t all that surprising, but no one working on the series had weighed in on the matter. Then earlier today, when an outside source went on Twitter to announce that the directors for the God of War Amazon adaptation were “strongly considering” casting The Rock as Kratos. Their only source was a non-existent link to TMZ, but the tweet still garnered a lot of attention from excited fans.
The Directors for God Of War are strongly considering casting Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as "Kratos" in the new adaptation of God of War premiering on Amazon Prime
( source : TMZ ) pic.twitter.com/1Gp0w88sgs
— Red ❤️🔥 (@RedLightning420) June 26, 2023
However, Barlog was quick to shut down the rumor of The Rock’s casting. In a reply to the original tweet, Barlog stated that he’d “never heard anything” about it, and given how important Barlog will likely be to the God of War show, he would definitely know the ins and outs of its casting decisions before they are announced.
Even though this latest rumor has been debunked, it’s inevitable that more will continue to pop up until official casting decisions are released to the public. More information on Amazon’s God of War series will likely be released as it continues production, with more official news hopefully coming soon.
