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SYFY WIRE god of war

Is Kratos entering the streaming wars? Amazon considers 'God of War' series from Sony, PlayStation

The brutal warrior known for killing literal deities might be coming to slay the streaming competition.

By Josh Weiss
God of War Ragnarok PRESS

Hide your kids, hide your wife, and most importantly, hide your Greek gods because Kratos is most likely coming to a small screen near you. According to a new report from Variety, Amazon has begun to mull over a God of War television adaptation co-produced by Sony Pictures Television (which already works with Prime Video on global phenomenon The Boys) and PlayStation Productions.

The show, which would tackle the best-selling video game franchise centered around a brutal demigod warrior in Ancient Greece capable of slaughtering all-powerful deities, is being developed by three Amazon veterans: The Expanse co-creators, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and The Wheel of Time showrunner, Rafe Judkins. In particular, Judkins is no stranger to the world of Sony/PlayStation adaptations, having co-written the screenplay for the recent big screen take on Uncharted starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.

At this time, no deal has been reached with Amazon, which is currently in the midst of developing another video game television project based on the Fallout video games (that adaptation hails from the Westworld duo of Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan). Films and TV shows drawing from hit gaming properties are quite hot with streaming services right now. As we speak, Paramount+ is gearing up for the premiere of its Halo series later this month (with a second season already green-lit); Netflix recently announced its intentions to turn to BioShock into a feature film; and Peacock scooped up a Twisted Metal series starring Marvel Studios A-lister, Anthony Mackie.

The God of War franchise first began in 2005 and now comprises seven titles for the PlayStation console. An eighth installment, God of War Ragnarök (set against the backdrop of Norse mythology), goes on sale this year after it was first announced two years ago during a digital event for the PS5. A number of comic books inspired by the games have been published by DC and Dark Horse (interestingly, the DC run was penned by Crisis on Infinite Earths legend, Marv Wolfman).

Speaking with Gaming Instincts last year, David Jaffe (who wrote and directed the first entry in the God of War pantheon) recalled that he originally envisioned the beloved IP as a mix between 1981's Clash of the Titans, 2000's Gladiator, and the films of director Paul Verhoeven (known best for sci-fi touchstones like RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers).

"I grew up loving [the original] Clash of the Titans, I grew up loving [Ray Harryhausen], I grew up loving just Greek mythology in general," he explained. "I knew I wanted to do something with the monsters and the cool Indiana Jones temples and architecture and all of that stuff. So that was always the very beginning idea. A Greek mythology action adventure game inspired but sort of modernized for the audiences of today. But inspired by [Harryhausen], king of fantastical [presentation] of Greek myths."