Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | News | March 2, 2026
On Friday, Amazon revealed a first look image for God of War, its live-action adaptation of the hit video game starring Ryan Hurst as the titular god, Kratos, and Callum Vinson as his son, Atreus. It did not go over well!
Reactions to the image were brutal, and the Spirt Halloween memes were flying. However, it didn’t take long before the inevitable accusation was made, and it’s one that’s starting to hold increasing weight: The image is AI. As someone who still stupidly uses Facebook, that was my first read right out of the gate. Something about the whole thing was off and very reminiscent of the slop you see all over Zuck’s uncanny valley trough. And then folks started pointing out Atreus’ bow.
Something is rotten in Denmark. The entire image being AI, or at the very least heavily filtered through it, became a more and more likely explanation, and Hurst’s latest remarks on social media aren’t helping things. In a screenshot shared on Reddit, the Kratos actor posted the following message in his Instagram Stories over the weekend: “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids.”
Allow me. What the heck does that mean?!
Let’s consider the possibilities. Is Amazon stupid enough to use AI to make a first look image? You bet. Would they actually come clean if caught? No clue! On the one hand, all publicity is good publicity, so it might not hurt to be honest. On the other, burning up fan goodwill right out of the gate is not how you want to launch what will presumably be a wildly expensive series. (Although, it looks like costs are already being cut.)
There’s also the likelihood that this was a rushed together promotional still touched up by AI and not at all indicative of the final product as evidenced by the lead actor distancing himself form it.
Why even release the image in the first place then? I dunno, man. Why does anybody do anything? People are weird, which is why I spend most of my time staring out the window and getting way too excited about the fox and its kits that live in the brushes down the street. One of them walked by my car. It was neat!
