Earlier this year, one of Sony's premier franchises, God of War, finally released an eagerly anticipated new entry on the Playstation 4. The game, acting as something of a reboot for the series, debuted to huge sales and universal critical acclaim. As with all major video game franchises, especially those with the cinematic qualities of something like God of War, there is always the belief that it could be adapted into a great movie. One person who is a fan of the franchise and wants the job of making it into a movie is Steven S. DeKnight. The Pacific Rim Uprising director even has someone in mind to play the protagonist Kratos: none other than Drax himself, Dave Bautista. Steven S. DeKnight spoke about God of War and Kratos, saying:
I would love to tackle God of War movie or I would love to see somebody put that up on the big screen. Somebody asked me, 'Well, who would you have to have Kratos?' And immediately for me: Dave Bautista would be the man. I think he can do anything. You can do drama, real emotion, humor, action. What would I like to see from a movie like that? A bit of a tricky question because there hasn't really been 100% success of translating a video game to a movie. It's a very, very tricky process.
It is easy to see why Steven S. DeKnight would pick Dave Bautista for Kratos. The actor probably looks more like the Spartan warrior than any other actor out there. Fans of the game will definitely want whoever plays Kratos to look the part, and a portion of that means having an intimidating physical presence. Kratos walks around shirtless throughout the games with ash white skin, and Dave Bautista is no stranger to playing a character that requires him to be shirtless all the time and covered in makeup. Dave Bautista has also continued to hone his acting chops over time, proving to have be adept at comedy in addition to his obvious action presence.
Depending on which game or which part of his story you adapt, the character of Kratos doesn't necessarily require a ton of range. He is a tragic character and he does have some emotional beats to his tale, but in the majority of the games he is just kind of a jerk that walks around in a state of constant rage killing people. Still, as with any iconic video game character, casting is key because Kratos needs to be a magnetic and charismatic figure that really pops onscreen and draws you into his story. As Steven S. DeKnight told Comicbook.com, there hasn't been a truly successful or great video game movie yet, and making one work is a very tricky process. For any God of War movie, part of the trick is getting the right person to play Kratos.
It's tough to know who would be right for the part without knowing exactly what direction a God of War movie would go. Dave Bautista might work, but personally, I could also see someone like Travis Fimmel from Vikings take on Kratos. His Ragnar Lothbrok looked similar to Kratos, and Travis Fimmel played him with a bit of craziness that I think Kratos needs. Although he already starred in one video game disappointment Warcraft, and I'm not sure he would want to take on another. A different option, and someone that Steven S. DeKnight worked with on the Spartacus TV series, is Manu Bennett. I think the man who played Crixus could bring the right level of intensity to Kratos while also giving him the necessary pathos.
I imagine its only a matter of time before a God of War movie is officially announced, at which point we can all cross our fingers that the right person, perhaps Dave Bautista, plays Kratos, and we finally get a video game movie that 100% delivers. Until then you can catch Dave Bautista's next movie Hotel Artemis, in theaters on June 8.
