Last week, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios celebrated the start of production on Prime Video's upcoming God of War adaptation with the release of a first-look image featuring series stars Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson as Kratos and Atreus, respectively.
Although the image was intended to generate excitement among fans of the long-running PlayStation franchise, the celebratory milestone quickly spiraled into a PR headache. Fan reactions proved sharply divided, with some praising the casting choices while others criticizing the overall visual interpretation of the characters and faithfulness to the source material.
The image quickly became a viral meme with users accusing the series looks like a cheap fan film or cosplay. Others accused the studio of releasing an image that was AI-generated, or at least heavily manipulated with AI tools.
Over the weekend, David Jaffe, best known for directing the God of War games in 2005 and 2007, weighed in on the controversial image. And like many others, he wasn't very impressed. Although Jaffe expressed confidence in the show's creators, praising showrunner Ron Moore, he slammed the studio's decision to release this particular.
Reacting on his YouTube channel, Jaffe explained why he felt this particular image did a disservice to the show and God of War as a whole.
“It's so dumb. But, okay, let's be incredibly clear, okay? Two things can be true. This can be a terrible image, and it is. It is so bad in so many ways, which we'll talk about in a moment. And Ron Moore is awesome, who is the showrunner. He created the new Battlestar. He didn't create it, because it's based on books, but Outlander, about the woman who goes back in time. He's done Star Trek stuff. The guy is a juggernaut of a talented fellow. I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be a good show. Cory [Barlog] is on it. I think Cory has a great deal to offer, not just to this universe, but he's great with storytelling. I'm not worried about the show.
Jaffe was clear that his issue wasn't necessarily with the actors themselves. He believs finding a good actor who embodies the essence of a character is more important than finding someone who looks exactly like the version in the games. His problem seems more with the overall composition of the image: the character poses, their styles, and the set lighting.
“But I'm a little worried about, what the f*** is this? Not because I'm like, how dare they, it doesn't look like Kratos! I don't care about that. A good actor is a good actor and that's all you need. I'd much rather have a great actor who embodies the essence of the character and makes the character endearing or memorable or iconic, than looks just like the person in the video game. Who cares, right? I mean, you care right now, but eventually they can become, you know… Peter Parker never looked like Tobey Maguire until Tobey Maguire became Peter Parker, right? So, I'm not worried about that stuff.
“It's just a dumb f***ing image.”
Although Jaffe doesn't necessarily have a problem with actor Ryan Hurst, he did take issue with the pose the image put him in, and his expression.
"He just looks stupid," Jaffe said, explaining that he didn't think this was the best way to introduce the character to a new audience. While he recognizes this may have been a conscious decision by the showrunners to emphasize the father-son story, he joked, "At that point, could you find a picture that doesn't look like he's shi**ing in the woods? Cause that's what the picture looks like."
Jaffe also addressed Callum Vinson, the young actor playing Atreus in the series. He understands why they cast a kid younger than what Atreus actually was in the games, so he can age properly with the story being told. Instead, he took issue with all of the product the character has in his hair.
"He looks like a very confused little boy with too much product in his hair. Neither of these characters look very interesting or appealing. They look, just dumb, like if this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber Edition," he chimed.
After addressing both actors in the image, Jaffe finally took aim at what he personally found to be the most offensive thing in the image: the Styrofoam rock.
"You'd think in a world of CG and AI and over a century of movie magic of real time practical effects, or better yet, the effect is probably fine. The actual creation of the rock. It's the lack of lighting in a proper way. This looks like what you'd go into a hobby story and buy for your train set."
Jaffe admitted that he's not particularly interested in this series, but that's mostly because he's not a fan of the Norse mythology. That said, he does believe the show will be "fine" because of the people involved in its creation, primarily Ron Moore and Cory Barlog.
"The God of War series storyline follows father and son Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye," the series synopsis reads. "Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human."
The series has already received a two-season order, but a premiere date has not yet been announced.