Dave Bautista gets ripped for God of War Kratos role

At 57, American actor and retired wrestler Dave Bautista took to social media to show off his training for his role as Kratos in the upcoming live-action God of War series. 

The actor wrote, “3rd week in to weight training again. 2 more months to get to where I need to be. Like ridin a bike! LFG!” The Guardians of the Galaxy star replaced Ryan Hurst as Kratos after the actor suffered injuries in June.

Reports indicate that Hurst had to undergo surgery, which would have delayed filming until 2027, prompting Amazon to recast the lead role in hopes of keeping production moving.

Dave Bautista gets ripped for God of War Kratos role

Dave Bautista was recast as Kratos on August 20 and is set to play the role alongside Callum Vinson as Atreus. However, Vinson will be recast with an older actor due to age constraints.

The highly anticipated show is based on PlayStation’s popular games (specifically God of War 2018 and Ragnarok). According to the series’ logline, “God of War follows father and son Kratos and Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye (played by Sonya Walger). 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.”

Anticipated fans took to social media and praised Bautista for getting ripped at the age of 57:

“‘Like riding a bike’ at 57 after dropping 75 lbs is a threat. 3 weeks in and he’s already got the stare, the roar, and the “Boy…” energy. Give him the full two months and Atreus is going to be genuinely scared.”

“Dave Bautista as Kratos is absolute perfection! Man is literally built for the role.”

“Dave Bautista really said, ‘I’m not playing Kratos, I’m becoming Kratos.’ Bro is already looking like Kratos. Two more months is crazy.”