So, I've heard rumors about a God of War movie for a while now. I've only heard the rumor that Djmon Honsou is cast to play Kratos. While a good actor, I don't really see it. This is how I would personally go about making a God of War movie series.
The movies: So the movies would be adapted from
God of War, God of War II, and
God of War III. The plot of each film would closely follow the plot of the games while expanding on some moments and omitting less than necessary moments (for example, the games are 50% action and 50% puzzles. There would be little to no focus on puzzles).
And then the challenge was
Chains of Olympus and
Ghost of Sparta (and possibly
Ascension, but I can't say until it's released). I don't think they would be made into movies as they don't follow the main plot, but rather what occurred between 1, 2, and 3. My plan is similar to what they did with
Van Helsing. How they released an animated prequel called
Van Helsing: The London Assignment. My plan would be for CoO and GoS to be released as direct-to-video animated movies (or even TV animated movies) with the cast reprising their roles.
Before I start, I want to extend my thanks to fellow website users
worldbreaker and
TheAmazingSpidey63 for contributing their input, serving as my test audience, and helping me with this fan cast.
Cast:
Kratos: Hugh Jackman (
Les Miserables)
Of everyone in this fan cast, Kratos was the hardest to cast. I needed someone who could balance the inner rage Kratos has, his hatred of the gods, and his deep sadness and inner pain over the deeds he has done in the past. After watching
Les Miserables, I knew it had to be Hugh Jackman. It also helps that Jackman is very well buils, just like Kratos. While being very action oriented, Jackman would also be amazing at portraying the emotional side of Kratos.
Tom Hardy (
The Dark Knight Rises) was also considered.
Gaia/ The Narrator: Linda Hunt (
NCIS: Los Angeles)
Linda Hunt voiced Gaia and the Narrator throughout the series but only did the opening narration for the third game while Susan Blakeslee (notable as Maleficent in the
Kingdom Hearts series) voiced Gaia. Whatever the reason, I hope Hunt reprises both her roles for a possible film series.
Ares: Joe Manganiello (
True Blood)
I must admit I feel kind of horrible for this choice. Because whenever I cast a large, burly muscled guy, Manganiello is my first and only choice. Not that that's bad. He's a great actor. I haven't seem him in anything in which he portrays a villainous role though. But he has the size and voice (if you've seen
True Blood) for Ares.
Athena/ Athena's Ghost: Anne Hathaway (
The Dark Knight Rises)
Anne is an amazing actress. She displays versatility and range in her films like
Brokeback Mountain and
Rachel Getting Married (which she won and Oscar for).
My only real concern is
God of War III. In the end, we see Athena's true colors. And I've haven't seen Anne play a vicious character like Athena is at the end. Not to say she can't, she is spectacular to watch.
Jennifer Connelly (
Labyrinth), Selma Blair (
Hellboy), and Kelly Monaco (
General Hospital) were also considered.
Zeus: Russell Crowe (
Les Miserables)
Like Kratos, Zeus was very difficult to cast. I mean, no old guy (the appearance he assumes) is that ripped. So I didn't really go for physical appearance so much as acting ability. And I came up with Crowe. Crowe is great at what he does, and he plays great villains. He also has this sort of lordly kingly overpowering presence about him.
I based this on
Les Miserables. In it, Crowe plays the antagonist to Jackman's protagonist. So there is the familiarity and they have also already portrayed enemies.
Guy Pearce (
Prometheus) was also considered.
Poseidon: Mickey Rourke (
The Wrestler)
I'm not really sure what attracted me to this choice, but it isn't a bad choice. Rourke is great at playing villainous and antagonistic roles (
Immortals which sucked but still a great villain,
Iron Man 2 to name 2). Not really much to say.
Johnny Depp (
Pirates of the Caribbean) was also considered.
Hades: Hugo Weaving (
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
At first, I didn't want to use Weaving because of his tantrum over not wanting to return as Red Skull and wanting to do more artistic films. I think a lot of people lost respect for him. But he's still a great actor, and his villains are amazing. I also considered Weaving because of the voice he used for Megatron.
I also considered wrestler turned actor Bill Goldberg for the body and Clancy Brown reprising his role from
God of War III as the voice of Hades, but I decided on Weaving in the end.
Hephaestus: Stellan Skarsgard (
Angels and Demons)
I don't remember where it was that I first saw Skarsgard...I think it was
Mamma Mia...oh well. Not the point. The point is he's a great actor. Besides Athena, Hephaestus is the only ally to Kratos...until Hephaestus turns on him and tries to kills him. While I've never seen him in this type of role, it just feels like he can play a tragic character really well.
John Rys-Davies (
The Lord of the Rings) and Geoffrey Rush (
The King's Speech) were also considered.
Hera: Helena Bonham Carter (
Dark Shadows)
At first, I considered actress Adrienne Barbeau who voiced Hera in the game, but then I felt she was too old compared to Crowe.
My first thought when cast HBC was when I was watching the Tim Burton comedy
Dark Shadows. The American voice she uses in the movie sounds a lot like Hera. Also in the movie, Carter's character is an Alcoholic (and almost every time we see Hera, she's intoxicated).
The biggest reason I considered Helena for Hera was Hera's line in
God of War III. "Good Luck with that little whore you call Pandora!" (the line that causes Kratos to lose it and snap her neck) When I heard that line I asked myself, "who could deliver that line with the attitude and bitchiness that it was delivered with in the game?" Helena immediately came to mind.
Michelle Pfeiffer (
People Like Us), Sigourney Weaver (
Alien) and Barbara Hershey (
Black Swan) were also considered.
Helios: Stephen Moyer (
True Blood)
Moyer is a great actor. Watch
True Blood that's all I can say. This choice was mostly physical though. Moyer looks a lot like Helios. But I did consider acting ability as well. I didn't want someone who looked like Helios and then was a lousy actor.
Hermes: Ryan Reynolds (
The Proposal)
I know. I know. A lot of people hate Reynolds. Actually, I think the way to describe him is a line from the sitcom
Happy Endings. "Love Ryan Reynolds, hate Ryan Reynolds' movies."
However, his personality drew me to cast him as Hermes. When I played the game, I noticed that every time Kratos faced Hermes, Hermes was very...perky and energetic. And that's how I feel about Ryan Reynolds. Everything I see him in he's perky and energetic.
For those of you who hated
Green Lantern, you can take pride in the fact Kratos kills him.
Pandora: Bailee Madison (
Don't be Afraid of the Dark)
Child actors are really difficult to cast. Some of them don't have enough years under their belt to be good so their acting is really flat. That's not the cast with Bailee. For someone so young, she is REALLY good. She is able to portray emotion so passionately.
Chloe Grace Moretz (
Kick-Ass) was also considered.
Cronos: Ron Perlman (
Hellboy)
Just gonna say this, Ron Perlman is a pretty obvious choice for a villain. But there's a reason why. He's good at it. Sooner or later, Perlman would have to play a giant...or in this case a titan. Why not the father of the gods?
Jeff Bridges (
The Men who Stare at Goats) and Lou Ferrigno (
The Incredible Hulk) were also considered.
Aphrodite: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
Hot girl as the hot goddess. Just me putting two and two together. I know it's a bit part, and many of you might think her talent is wasted on such a small role...but have you seen Aphrodite in
God of War III. I think once she appeared on screen, people have wanted to see her topless.
Malin Akerman (
Watchmen) was also considered.
Voice cast: As I said earlier, if a
God of War film series was done my way I, II, and III would be done as the films and
Chains of Olympus and
Ghost of Sparta (and possibly
Ascension...but like I said, we don't know until it comes out) would be released alongside the films as animated films. These are the voice actors who I would like to see in
CoO and
GoS. If all things go right, the main cast would also reprise their roles for the animated films.
Charon: Nolan North (
Uncharted series)
North voiced Hades in the first game. Which surprised me, because after Deadpool and Nathan Drake, I didn't think he could do anything other than slightly charming rogues, but he can. And actually, his Hades voice reminded of Charon in CoO.
Persephone: Lana Parrilla (
Once Upon a Time)
Persephone is the main antagonist of
Chains of Olympus. Lana makes a great antagonist. If you don't believe me, watch
Once Upon a Time. Her likeness would be used to create Persephone for CoO.
On a side note, Parrilla would have a cameo in
God of War III, when Kratos is in Hades' palace. In the game, the player had to use Persephone's tomb to make an entrance into Hades' inner lair. In the movie, as Kratos explores Hades' palace, he passes by Persephone's tomb remembering his encounter with her. Parrilla would cameo as Persephone's corpse in this scene.
Deimos: Troy Baker (
BioShock: Infinite)
In a quick summary, Deimos is the brother of Kratos. A prophecy was made that a marked warrior would bring the downfall of the gods, Zeus and Ares believed it to be Deimos and had him locked away. Between the events of
God of War and
God of War II, Kratos rescues him. After the duo defeat Thanatos, Kratos kills Deimos, freeing him from his torment.
I know he doesn't look like it, but Baker has a really deep voice, which would be perfect for Deimos.
Thanatos: Mark Hamill (
Regular Show)
Thantaos is the god of death (Hades is the god of the dead). He was in charge of guarding Deimos and tormented him.
Do you guys remember the Spyro reboot
The Legend of Spyro? Mark Hamill voiced the main antagonist, the dragon Malefor in it. Playing GoS, Hamill's Malefor voice reminded me of Thanatos' voice. Plus, Hamill is amazing at creating voices for his characters.
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As always, reviews and thumb ups are greatly appreciated.
-MCott62094
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