Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | News | February 27, 2026
When the new God of War game dropped in 2018, I was not prepared for a series known for its gratuitous violence and even more gratuitous mini-games to slam me in the feels with a tree trunk. The new game finds Kratos ensconced in the snowy world of Norse mythology and with a young son Atreus in tow. My own son, who was roughly the same age, sat next to me as I navigated the tutorial, which sees the small boy learning how to hunt. At one point, Kratos goes to put his hand on Atreus’ back, but hesitates, and my God, that brief moment absolutely wrecked me right out of the gate.
Here’s Kratos trapped between teaching his son to “be a man,” but also wanting to comfort the boy who he’s kept at an emotional distance because “that’s what men do.” What follows is a surprisingly emotional (and, yes, ultra-violent) tale of a father desperately trying to protect his son from the same toxic anger that cursed him, a struggle I know all too well as most men my age do. The words “I’ll give you something to cry about” seared into our brains as we either fight back against that generational trauma or give into it.
“Mike, all of this from a video game?” Yup. “Does the sequel hit just as hard?” Uhh…
Anyway, long story short, if you’re a regular Pajiba Love reader then you know I can’t shut up about the casting for Amazon’s live-action series. Ryan Hurst as Kratos seemed perfect, the dude from Severance looks exactly like Thor from the game, and Mandy Patinkin as Odin? Say no more.
So, imagine my horror when I got a peek at the first look image that dropped this morning. This is some real “We’ve got God of War at home” energy.
Father and Son. Behold your first look at Kratos and Atreus in the God of War series now in production for @PrimeVideo. Their journey to the highest peak begins. pic.twitter.com/vOkD1SiJ3q
— Amazon MGM Studios (@AmazonMGMStudio) February 27, 2026
Needless to say, people are not impressed. You can see some pretty brutal reactions over at Kotaku. However, our own TK offered a gracious assessment: “Eh, I think it looks fine. It’s a promo photo and those often look dumb, especially for genre stuff. It’s also a weird and awkward pose for Kratos/Hurst, which isn’t helping things.”
I really hope that we’re just looking at an unfortunate choice in photos, and my condolences to the marketing person who picked it. I want this series to be good, but my confidence level just took a swan dive off a fjord. Also, there’s just something very weird about Atreus (Callum Vinson). Maybe because social media has bombarded me with slop, but he’s giving AI in that shot. Could be me! I am the guy who opened this whole post with how the big axe man made me blubber like a baby because he doesn’t know how to connect with his son. We all read that.
