Ryan Hurst Shares an Impressive Image of Himself as Kratos, Proving He Could Have Nailed the Role.

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Those words resonate now more than ever after Ryan Hurst shared a photo of himself as Kratos on his Instagram story last week. Hurst was initially set to portray the iconic character in Amazon’s adaptation of the 2018 God of War game, but a bicep tear forced the studio to seek a new actor for their brooding Spartan warrior.

The image, first highlighted by an outlet and now circulating on Reddit, offers a much clearer view of Hurst as Kratos, far surpassing the production stills released by Amazon earlier this year. Fans are lamenting what could have been, with one Reddit user expressing sympathy: “Definitely feel bad for the guy. He looks the part, and everything was going well, and then tears his biceps.”

This new photo has sparked a wave of support from fans, especially given the backlash Hurst faced online, including mockery from a former God of War developer, after the initial images were revealed. In response to the criticism, Hurst shared a now-deleted message on his Instagram story stating, “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids,” implying that the first look didn’t capture his best portrayal of Kratos. Another Reddit user noted, “Bro, if this pic had been the first image we saw instead of that awful official first look photo, the reception would have been completely different.”

As Amazon continues its search for a new Kratos, no announcements have been made yet. There are rumors that Dave Bautista might be in the running for the role, but with this fresh glimpse of Hurst, many fans are hoping the studio will wait for him to recover.

“Just let the guy recover,” a Reddit user commented. “I don’t mind waiting 2-3 more years…so long as the plot and actors cook.”