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With the news that creator Ronald D. Moore will be taking the helm on Amazon’s rebooted God of War TV series, I’m quietly optimistic. After all, Moore is an extremely experienced writer and showrunner. Anyone who has Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Battlestar Galactica on their resume knows how to tell a story. But, of course, TV adaptations of video game franchises don’t always go to plan. As such, I can think of five things the God of War TV series must nail if it’s to succeed.
Look to ‘The Last of Us’
Adaptations of video game franchises are notoriously difficult to pull off. For every movie success, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, we’ve had an Assassin’s Creed movie disaster. In the TV medium, successes such as Fallout have only served to emphasize the misses. I’m looking at you, Halo.
But there’s one series based on a Sony first-party IP that surpassed many fans’ expectations, mine included. The Last of Us TV series was a resounding success, deftly telling the story of Joel and Ellie’s harrowing journey through post-infection America. The reason for The Last of Us‘s success is that it struck the balance between honoring the source material and adding thought-provoking embellishments. Essentially, the series closely followed The Last of Us game’s plot, but it added character-driven details such as the memorable expansion of Bill’s story with his partner, Frank.
Develop Fringe Characters
On that note, The Last of Us TV series’ development of fringe characters gave the show much-needed emotional depth. Bill’s tear-jerking story was undoubtedly the highlight, but Tess received a greater role, and the introduction of mycology professor Ratna Pertiwi effectively showed just how screwed the world was.
The God of War series must do the same. Whether the series covers Kratos’s original journey through Greek mythology as in the original God of War game, or the rebooted 2018 game’s journey into Norse mythology, the approach holds. The TV series shouldn’t be afraid to closely follow the events of the game(s), but develop more fringe characters to give Kratos’s trials and tribulations greater emotional depth. For example, it would be fantastic to see more of Kratos’s ill-fated relationship with his Spartan wife and child before their tragic death. And who wouldn’t love to learn more about how Brok and Sindri became such legendary blacksmiths?
Allow Moore to Bring His Experience to Bear
Fortunately, if you’re looking for someone who can juggle a diverse cast of characters and develop compelling relationships, you could do far, far worse than Ronald D. Moore. Renowned for his work on famous Sci-Fi TV series including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the incredible Battlestar Galactica, Moore knows how to develop a series.
As such, it feels crucial that Amazon don’t interfere and allow Moore to use his experience. The fact the series was recently rebooted to go in a “new creative direction”, shows that something was amiss, even if Amazon and Sony praised the scripts of the previous writers. The original plan was reportedly to begin with Kratos and Atreus’ journey through Norse mythology. But, perhaps a character-driven focus on God of War‘s original three games may be more fertile ground for storytelling.
Of course, Moore is primarily experienced with Sci-Fi shows, and God of War is more gritty fantasy than optimistic Sci-Fi. That said, Moore did develop the excellent historical fantasy series Outlander, so he’s hardly a stranger to fantasy. Outlander successfully blended fantasy adventure with elements of historical drama, and God of War must do likewise. The mythos should be explored to give the context to Kratos’s tragic story but cannot be the focus. After all, it’s a God of War romp, which definitely means one thing…
Not Shy Away from Violence
One plus of streaming services is that, unlike for theater movie releases, there isn’t such a push to keep an age rating low to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. The Fallout and The Last of Us TV series didn’t shy away from brutal violence and profanity, and it’s essential that God of War doesn’t either.
In fact, I’d argue that graphic, brutal violence is a key facet of the God of War series. In the games, Kratos’s betrayal by the gods is the core motivation for his murderous fury. It would be easy to call the games’ hyperviolence as gratuitous, but that would be wrong. It’s the thematic point. The violence calls into question whether Kratos could ever be justified in his horrific actions even as we empathize with him.
If we don’t cringe as a magnificent dragon is impaled on a spike or as Kratos brutally tears off Icarus’s wings, then the God of War series will miss the mark. The TV series needs to replicate the discomfort that the games often made us feel as Kratos committed awful atrocities at our behest.
Get Bear McCreary Involved
Last, but by no means least, Bear McCreary simply must score the God of War series. His epic drum-heavy orchestral motifs would be a perfect fit for Kratos’s bloody adventures.
I mean, it’s hardly a stretch, right? McCreary scored both the God of War 2018 reboot and its sequel, God of War Ragnarök. The composer also has a strong professional relationship with showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Both worked on Battlestar Galactica and Outlander, so you’d think it would be a no-brainer. Still, stranger things have happened in the TV business. Just make it happen, Amazon.
So, there we have five things the God of War TV series needs to nail. Like The Last of Us TV series, it needs to strike the balance between honoring the source material while adapting the action-heavy game for the more passive medium of television. With Ronald D. Moore at the helm, though, I’m cautiously optimistic. Just please don’t be a The Rings Of Power. That would be such a disappointing waste of potential.
