Dave Bautista is reaching unprecedented levels of buff for his role as Kratos: ‘2 more months to get to where I need to be’

We got confirmation a few weeks ago that former WWE and Marvel superhero star Dave Bautista would be taking on the role of Kratos in Amazon’s upcoming God of War series after an unfortunate accident that saw the previous lead, Ryan Hurst, have to step down from the role after tearing a bicep.

Even before Bautista was confirmed as a replacement, rumours spread of his involvement because, well, he’s about one of the only actors who has the physique to step into Kratos’ big boots at short notice. But that doesn’t even seem enough for the actor, as Bautista has begun an intensive three month long training course.

“Third week into weight training again,” Bautista writes in an Instagram post. “Two more months to get to where I need to be. Like ridin a bike! LFG!” Given how Bautista looks ready to don the red paint, Leviathan axe, and Blades of Chaos right now, I have no idea what he’ll look like after the months of training have come to an end—is there such a thing as too buff for Kratos? Probably not, but we’ll see.

But he’s not just being used for his muscles. Asad Qizilbash, Sony’s head of PlayStation productions and head of product at PlayStation Studios, previously explained how Bautista brings “extraordinary presence, depth, and humanity to the role,” in a LinkedIn post. “There’s a lot of excitement across PlayStation productions and Santa Monica Studio about what Dave will bring to Kratos, and about continuing to bring this world and these characters to the screen with the care they deserve.”

I’m certainly interested to see what Bautista will do with the role of Kratos. I’ve loved his work in Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune Part 2. But I’ve also always thought that he thrives in oddly comedic roles, and if there’s one thing Kratos isn’t it’s comedic, although that doesn’t mean some well-timed and subtle quips are completely off the table.