David Jaffe Calls Prime Video God of War First Look So Dumb

David Jaffe, the creator behind the original God of War franchise, posted a nearly seven-minute YouTube reaction on Feb. 28 after Prime Video unveiled a first-look image for its live-action God of War series on Feb. 27, calling the photo “so bad in so many ways” and saying “I’m sure everybody’s trying real hard, [but] it’s so dumb.”

The first-look image shows Ryan Hurst as Kratos standing in a forest behind Callum Vinson’s Atreus, who appears to be learning to aim a bow, and Prime’s publicity also lists Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Danny Woodburn and Jeff Gulka as the smith brothers Brok and Sindri, and Ed Skrein as Baldur. The series, which reportedly has a two-season order, carries an official logline about Kratos and Atreus journeying to spread the ashes of Faye while Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god and Atreus tries to teach his father to be a better human, and Ronald D. Moore is credited as the showrunner.

Jaffe’s reaction targeted the image’s composition and styling more than the casting, saying “Kratos in this pose with this expression, not the guy’s face, but this expression, he just looks stupid,” and that the photo “looks like he’s shitting in the woods.” He singled out Atreus’ styling, saying the child actor looks like “a very confused little boy with way too much product in his hair,” and added that “none of these characters look very interesting or appealing — they look just dumb. Like if this was God of War: Dumb and Dumber edition.” Jaffe used profane emphasis in places, calling the release a “dumb fucking image” while questioning the decision to introduce the series with that particular photo.

At the same time, Jaffe framed his criticism with a direct endorsement of the production team, saying “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, 54, also reminded viewers he worked on God of War in 2005 and God of War II in 2007 but is not involved with the Prime Video adaptation, which is said to be mostly based on the two most recent games that he did not work on.

Prime Video released the first image on Feb. 27 and Jaffe’s Feb. 28 post crystallized an early wave of fan reaction, raising an immediate marketing question for a two-season TV effort headed by Ronald D. Moore: can a widely shared first-look image that a franchise creator calls “so dumb” be overcome by strong showrunning and faithfulness to the source material, or will it shape initial audience impressions as the show moves toward production? Jaffe left the record blunt and balanced, calling the image terrible while ending with confidence that the show itself can still succeed.