With filming set to resume soon on Prime Video’s God of War series, 55-year-old actor Dave Bautista revealed in an Instagram Story that he’s packed on a beefy 20 pounds of muscle for the role of Kratos, bringing his weight to 250 pounds. While it’s not the first time Bautista has bulked up for a role, he’d noticeably slimmed down in recent months, and he’d previously said he needed two months to get ready to play Kratos on TV.
While 250 pounds is an impressive weight, it’s not the heaviest that Bautista has been during his career. At the peak of his WWE run, when he performed under the ring name Batista, the actor said he started at 325 pounds (as Deacon Batista) and once weighed 370 pounds. Over the years, Bautista usually hovered at around 290 pounds during his WWE runs, which is still massive. For 2023’s Knock at the Cabin, Bautista increased his mass to 315 pounds to play the sinister character of Leonard, then began to slim down.
Bautista is stepping in to replace the original Kratos actor, Ryan Hurst, who also became absolutely shredded for the role. Sadly, a devastating bicep tear injury forced him to vacate the role, as he’d have needed months of downtime and rehabilitation to resume filming. Not wanting to wait that long, Amazon quickly began scouting for a replacement and chose Bautista for the series, of which two seasons have been ordered.
Based on the game series’ soft reboot that began in 2018, God of War will follow Kratos and his son Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they journey across the nine realms. More games in the series are also on the way, starting with God of War Laufey on February 18, 2027, and a new Kratos-led adventure.
