One of my favourite sci-fi B-movie baddies has just been cast as Baldur in Amazon’s God of War TV series

Production of Sony and Amazon MGM’s God of War series seems to be ticking along nicely after starting from scratch back in 2024. Ed Skrein has just been added to the cast. The North London actor will play Baldur, the main antagonist from the 2018 God of War game.

As reported by Deadline (via Eurogamer), “Charismatic, unpredictable and armed with a razor-sharp tongue, Baldur lives by his own rules.” Skrein, who has played several baddies in the past, is a perfect casting choice in my opinion.

I’ve enjoyed Skrein’s work for some time now. As a huge fan of B-movie sci-fi, he’s been on my radar for a while. He’s quietly menacing as Alex in Tau, and spectacularly arrogant as the cyborg Zapan in Alita: Battle Angel. He also had a minor role in Game of Thrones as Daario Naharis before he was recast, and was most recently in Jurassic World: Rebirth (a movie I have not seen but will now add to my watchlist since I’ve just learned he’s in it).

If you’ve not played the 2018 God of War, then this is your first and last spoiler warning.

Baldur is completely immune to pain, and the game opens with him seeking out Kratos to see if the old God of war can finally help him feel something. It’s a brutal fight, and it’s wonderful watching Baldur taunt Kratos even as he gets his face pummeled in. This will be the second time Skrein has played a villain who can’t be hurt, the first being Ajax in Deadpool—like I said, perfect casting.

Skrein will be acting opposite Ryan Hurst, who will be playing Kratos. Hurst provided the voice acting and motion capture for Thor in God of War Ragnarök, and was formidable in the role. This is quite a change for Kratos, who has been voiced and performed by Black actors since the original 2005 PS2 game—he was first voiced by Terrence C. Carson in the Greek saga and later fully acted by Chris Judge in the Norse games.

We’re getting remakes of the original Greek saga, where Carson will reprise his role, and he also voices Kratos in recently released Sons of Sparta. Christopher Judge was also recorded saying, “you’ll be hearing about what we’re doing, probably late summer,” potentially implying Kratos’ journey will continue. I hope he goes up against the Egyptian pantheon next.

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