The God of War TV series is back on track. It was announced last week that the original creative team behind the Sony Pictures TV and Amazon MGM Studios series had departed, but Deadline now reports that Ronald D. Moore has stepped up as writer, executive producer, and showrunner.
Moore has plenty of TV experience. He’s best known for his work in the Star Trek franchise (including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager) and for developing acclaimed series such as Battlestar Galactica, Outlander, and For All Mankind. The exit of the original creative team came as a shock, especially as so much work had already been done. Showrunner/executive producer Rafe Judkins, as well as fellow EPs Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus, left the God of War series after completing multiple scripts for the first season. Although the scripts were praised by Sony and Amazon MGM, the studios apparently wanted to move in a different creative direction.
When Sony first announced the God of War TV series, the plot synopsis indicated that it would be following the events of the more recent installments in the video game franchise. The show “follows Kratos, aka the God of War, who, after exiling himself from his blood-soaked past in ancient Greece, hangs up his weapons forever in the Norse realm of Midgard. When his beloved wife dies, Kratos sets off on a dangerous journey with his estranged son to spread her ashes from the highest peak—his wife’s final wish. Kratos soon realizes the journey is an epic quest in disguise, one which will test the bonds between father and son and force Kratos to battle new Gods and monsters for the fate of the world.” Now that Ronald D. Moore is on board, it’s not clear if this is still the story or if there will be some even bigger changes.
Moore’s Outlander will be coming to an end with its eighth and final season, although a prequel spinoff series is expected to debut on Starz next year. For All Mankind has been renewed for a fifth season, and a spinoff focusing on the Soviet space program has been ordered.