Can Dave Bautista Possibly Play God of War’s Kratos and Still Do Netflix’s Gears of War Series?

Sony and Amazon-MGM’s God of War TV series has had a winding path through development, and just when it seemed like the production was finally on track, calamity struck! Last month, God of War star Ryan Hurst was injured on set while filming, badly enough that his leading role as Kratos (the titular “God of War”) needed to be recast. Earlier this week, it was announced that a replacement had been found in the form of Dave Bautista, former WWE Superstar and a fan-favorite star of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise.

Bautista has proven to be one of the most acclaimed actors (if not the most acclaimed) to come from the WWE-to-acting pipeline, which is why fans have faith that he will be a compelling Kratos. But Dave Bautista is a man who gets fan-casted for so many different fandom roles, and God of War wasn’t the only modern blockbuster video game franchise that fans wanted to see him leading.

So are hopes for Bautista to be cast in Netflix’s Gears of War movie now dead?

God of War Is A Big Commitment

On the surface, a lot of mainstream fans may tend to think that an actor taking on one kind of job means they can’t take on another; however, this is rarely true (at least according to the specious logic of most fans). More often than not, it’s not the brand or genre that limits an actor: it’s scheduling. So when asking if Bautista can do God of War and still commit to Gears of War, the answer can be found in the production schedules for both projects.

Obviously, the story about Bautista’s God of War casting already tells us that production is already underway on Amazon-MGM’s TV series, and has been since the end of February. Ryan Hurst had already completed several episodes’ worth of shooting on the series, but most of the season will need to be reshot to accommodate the change in lead actor, as well as the change in age and appearance of the show’s young lead, Callum Vinson, who is playing Kratos’ son, Atreus.

The original production timeline for God of War is also a major factor here: Amazon-MGM were investing in filming back-to-back seasons of the series, a lengthy shoot that would’ve originally run from February of 2026 through April of 2027. So, whenever things get finalized and Bautista steps onto set, he could be committed to more than a year of filming. If that’s the case, it pretty much kills any chance of Bautista teaming with John Wick and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch for Netflix’s Gears of War.

Gears of War May Not Be A Fit for Bautista

The Gears of War movie is currently still in pre-production, with Leitch’s hiring first being reported in May. That said, Leitch could arguably get cameras rolling as soon as later this year or early next year, which would, again, directly conflict with the time that Bautista would be filming God of War. However, the first story details about the Gears of War Netflix movie may be the biggest determining factor in whether or not Bautista is part of the film. The movie is going to be set after the upcoming game Gears of War: E-Day, which will chronicle how series leads Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago survive the first days of Earth’s invasion by a subterranean race known as the Locusts.

The Netflix movie will take place between the events of E-Day and the original Gears of War video game (2006), chronicling how Marcus and Dom go from being two soldiers fighting for survival to forming “Delta Squad,” one of the elite military units deployed by the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG). There is a 14-year span between Emergence Day (E-Day) and when Marcus Fennix is released from military prison to start the events of the first game; no matter where the Netflix film falls on the franchise timeline, it will be exploring events in Marcus and Dom’s lives when they are younger men than we see in the games; ergo, Bautista (57) may be too old.

With both scheduling and age being negative factors, it’s looking highly unlikely that Bautista will ever be cast in the Gears of War movie. He’s also in a place in life where playing Kratos, trying to be a father while fighting a mystical war against Norse gods, seems more up his alley.

Sorry, Xbox fans, but the PlayStation fandom won this one. Both God of War and Gears of War are currently in stages of production.