God of War Ragnarok actor Christopher Judge has revealed that he nearly quit playing Kratos. Christopher Judge's performances as Kratos in the 2018 God of War game and in God of War Ragnarok have earned widespread critical acclaim, with Judge taking home the Game Award for Best Performance at the latest iteration of the show.
Judge has appeared in movies, TV, and video games for decades now. His first video game role was as D-Mob in the Def Jam Vendetta series, but he would go on to play a number of different video game characters over the years, including Black Panther in the Marvel's Avengers live service game. However, Judge's most iconic role is easily Kratos in the new God of War games, as he successfully brought nuance and complex layers to a character who had been pretty one-note up to that point.
At The Game Awards 2022, Judge was presented the award for Best Performance by veteran film actor Al Pacino. During his acceptance speech, Judge revealed that he very nearly quit playing Kratos in God of War Ragnarok after he found out that Cory Barlog wouldn't be directing the game. Judge said that he "literally did quit," but then Barlog vouched for God of War Ragnarok director Eric Williams. "I said, 'Eric Williams better be a beast.' Eric Williams is a motherf***ing beast," Judge said. Here is Judge's speech (the video title incorrectly claims Atreus actor Sunny Suljic won the award):
After Barlog directed the award-winning 2018 God of War game, there were many who were understandably skeptical about someone else at Sony Santa Monica being given the reins for God of War Ragnarok, but it's safe to say that Williams lived up to expectations. God of War Ragnarok reviews were about the same as the 2018 God of War game, and it is so far the second-highest rated new video game release of 2022, right behind FromSoftware's Elden Ring.
Elden Ring is the highest-rated new game of 2022, and it won the coveted Game of the Year award, but God of War Ragnarok still had an incredible showing at the event, taking home six awards in total. Besides the aforementioned Best Performance award that Christopher Judge earned, Ragnarok also won the awards for Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Innovation in Accessibility, and Best Action/Adventure Game.
Needless to say, the bar has been set incredibly high by God of War Ragnarok, and it will be interesting to see how Santa Monica tops it. Whereas God of War Ragnarok was a cross-gen release, the next game in the series will likely be a PlayStation 5 exclusive, so one has to imagine that it will be an even bigger leap forward.
God of War Ragnarok is out now for PS4 and PS5.