“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” The immortal words from Janet Jackson now ring true after Ryan Hurst posted a photo of himself as Kratos to his Instagram story last week. Hurst was originally cast to play Kratos in Amazon’s adaptation of the 2018 God of War game, before he reportedly tore his bicep forcing Amazon to look elsewhere for their sad dad Spartan warrior.
First spotted by IGN, the photo, which has been preserved by Reddit, is a far, far better glimpse of the actor as Kratos, completely outdoing production stills Amazon shared earlier this year and showing fans of what their missing out on now that he’s gone. “Definitely feel bad for the guy,” wrote a user on Reddit. “He looks the part, and everything was going well, and then tears his biceps.”
The new photo has inspired a wave of sympathy in fans, coming as a tonal about-face considering Hurst was mocked online including by a former God of War developer, after the first pictures were shown. In what appeared to be a response to the online jeers, Hurst posted a now deleted message to his Instagram story that read, “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids,” suggesting the first look wasn’t him at his best, most Kratos-y. “Bro, if this pic has been the first image we saw instead of that awful official first look photo the reception would have been completely different,” another user wrote on Reddit.
Amazon continues to search for their new Kratos, but nothing yet has been announced. There are reports that Dave Bautista is a possible consideration for the role, but with this new look at Hurst, folks are hoping Amazon just waits until he’s healed.
“Just let the guy recover,” a Reddit user wrote. “I don’t mind waiting 2-3 more years…so long as the plot and actors cook.”