Dave Bautista Puts On 20 Pounds Of Muscle In New Look At God Of War's Kratos

Published Nov 2, 2026, 5:39 PM EST Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account God of War's new Kratos is getting even bigger. God of War is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. The franchise's releases follow Kratos, the title God of War, who embarks on adventures tied to different mythologies, interacting with both Greek and Norse gods, creatures, and locations. Prime Video's slate of TV shows has done well in the video game realm with the live-action sci-fi series Fallout and the animated anthology Secret Level. The streamer will continue to tap into that well with Sophie Turner's upcoming Tomb Raider series and a God of War TV show with a Marvel star who is getting ready to tackle Kratos. On Instagram, Dave Bautista (via Pubity), shared his physical transformation to play Kratos in Prime Video's God of War series. The actor has become known for his imposing physique, having led a successful wrestling career in the WWE before he made the jump to Hollywood and came to star in major franchises and movies. Bautista famously plays Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and more. However, more recently, the actor had chosen to slim down. To embody Kratos' towering size from the games, Bautista has undergone a physical transformation through intensive training to add 20 pounds of muscle, with the actor sharing a video where Bautista flaunts his muscles for the camera and celebrates reaching 250 pounds. While Bautista is not yet characterized as Kratos in the new video, the actor sports a similar beard to the one the character has in the most recent God of War games and can be seen donning a franchise shirt. Bautista is coming in as a replacement for the Prime Video fantasy series' original Kratos casting. Initially, the streamer had picked Ryan Hurst, known for playing The Walking Dead villain Beta, Sons of Anarchy's Opie, and The Odyssey's Mentor in live-action, to lead Prime Video's God of War series. Hurst was already connected to the franchise as the voice of Thor in God of War Ragnarök. Prime Video even released a first look at God of War with Hurst as Kratos alongside Callum Vinson as Atreus. However, the actor suffered a major injury on set, tearing his biceps while filming a stunt, and that ultimately led to the role being recast with Bautista now playing Kratos, rather than pausing production for several months. According to a report from Deadline on July 16, Prime Video's God of War series had already filmed four full episodes when production had to pause due to Hurst's injury. The actor's scenes will now have to be reshot with Bautista as Kratos. Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order. God of War has already received a two-season order at Prime Video, seemingly adapting both 2018's God of War and 2022's God of War Ragnarök. The plan is for both seasons of the new fantasy series to be filmed back-to-back, with God of War season 1 consisting of 10 episodes. The first look at Bautista as Kratos in Prime Video's God of War series is likely not too far away now that the actor is showing off the results of his physical transformation for the coveted role. Creator(s) David Jaffe, Cory Balrog