God of War creator David Jaffe criticises Amazon Prime TV first look as 'terrible'

God of War creator David Jaffe called the Amazon Prime TV first look image 'so dumb' and 'terrible'

David Jaffe, creator of the God of War video game franchise, has criticised the first look image released for Amazon Prime’s forthcoming television adaptation, describing it as “so dumb” and “terrible”.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Jaffe reacted to the image, which shows Kratos in the woods with his son. “I’m sure everybody’s trying real hard, [but] it’s so dumb,” he said.

“But let’s be incredibly clear, okay? Two things can be true. This can be a terrible image, and it is. It’s so bad in so many ways, which we’ll talk about in a moment. And Ron Moore is awesome, who is the showrunner… This guy is a juggernaut of a talented fellow. I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be a good show.”

Jaffe clarified that his criticism was not directed at actor Ryan Hurst’s resemblance to Kratos, but at the character’s expression and pose. “Kratos in this pose with this expression, not the guy’s face, but this expression, he just looks stupid,” he said.

“If you’re going to reveal, to most people, a brand new character that you hope is going to carry your series, for the first time, and they’ve never really seen this before, and this is the way you introduce them?”

He added: “Maybe that’s conscious. Maybe they’re like, ‘Well, what we really want to focus on is the father-son story. And if we focus on him being like, Spartan rage, and all that, maybe people are like, “I don’t want to watch that show.”’ Ok maybe. But then, at that point, could you find a picture that doesn’t look like he’s shitting in the woods? Cause that’s what the picture looks like.”

The cast includes Ryan Hurst as Kratos and Callum Vinson as his son, alongside Max Parker, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Mandy Patinkin, Alastair Duncan, Danny Woodburn, Jeff Gulka and Ed Skrein.