Amazon’s God of War TV show will be different to the games but with the same tone

It’s been years in the making, but the live-action adaption of the God of War games still isn’t here yet, but we at least know more about it! Back in 2022, Deadline announced that the creators of The Expanse and the showrunner for The Wheel of Time were in talks with Amazon to adapt the 2018 version into a TV show. However, by the end of 2024, the executive producers left, with the show heading in a different direction. From there, Ronald D. Moore, known for his work on Star Trek, Outlander and For All Mankind, joined as the series writer, showrunner and executive producer.

While at San Diego Comic-Con, Collider got to interview Moore about the upcoming show. At the moment, they’re in the script phase, but stating that it’s going well. Moore admitted that he’s never done an adaption of a video game, but “the deeper I got into it, the more impressed I was with the breadth and the depth of the mythology that’s involved in this video game“.

Moore also praised Cory Barlog, game director of the 2018 game, and called him a genius due to how much knowledge he has about the game and the mythology. Specifically, “how it connects one to the other, what the puzzles were, why they did this, and what that artifact did. It’s really impressive“.

When it comes to the God of War series itself, it won’t be a shot-for-shot remake, however, it will still serve as inspiration. For Moore, the game has such a rich universe that you can play a lot with it, stating “Okay, we want to keep the story. We want to keep the characters and the spirit of it. There’s all this stuff that you can keep turning to for inspiration. It’s really been interesting“. As for when it’ll come out, there’s still no word on that. Moore stated that it won’t be coming out this year, but that we’ll see if a 2026 release is in the cards.

The idea of a live-action God of War adaption isn’t necessarily new. Back in 2005, it was announced that the original God of War game would become a film. David Jaffe, the creator, said that there was a completed script, with Universal Studios distributing it. By 2010, the director of this live-action film was none other than Brett Ratner, director of X-Men: The Last Stand and accused of sexual assault. By 2012, the film got new writers, and a budget of US$150 million. But with God of War launching its 2018 soft reboot, it’s as the film never existed. As by 2021, speaking to the New York Times, a Sony spokesperson said that a God of War movie isn’t in development.

At least now we’re getting a TV show, which can better explore the narrative over a movie. Not only that, but Barlog’s involvement in the series will be a much better outcome too. As back in 2010, game director of God of War III, Stig Asmussen, said in an interview that Sony Santa Monica had no creative control over the movie. Everything about this is exciting, and we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.