Could we see a live action Netflix series for one of Sony’s most iconic exclusive titles? If God of War Director Cory Barlog was in charge of those decisions, (he’s not), we would!
Barlog took to Twitter to weigh in on a question posed by a gaming podcast. You can see his response in the tweet below.
The initial question posed was, “Which other games IP lend themselves to Netflix-style series?”
Barlog responded in all capital letters, “GOD. Of. War. At least, I think so.”
The idea of a God of War movie has been floated in the past, but nothing ever materialized. Of course, this concept was from back in the days when Kratos was a one-dimensional hack and slash machine.
Now that Santa Monica Studios, under Barlog’s direction, has fleshed Kratos out as a character, adding layers and dimension to one one-time one-note rage machine, it could make for a compelling action-adventure drama.
Of course, these discussions have been ongoing throughout the fandom ever since Netflix made waves with The Witcher this holiday season. The adventures of Geralt of Rivia translated brilliantly to the small screen, becoming one of the most watched series in Netflix history.
When something like this hits, the rest of Hollywood lines up to strike the iron again.
Barlog was quick to send out a follow up tweet, letting everyone know that this is only his personal opinion and should not start the rumor mill churning about such a project being in the works.
“BTW,” he tweeted, “this is not a hint or anything. I just believe that games would make great TV shows because you spend so much them with the characters in fantastic worlds. Games, like TV, are like relationships with the characters, where movies are more like a date. Both can be great.”
There’s a lot of wisdom in Barlog’s words. TV shows give you an opportunity to dive deep into the story of a game, to really flesh out the characters in ways that are impossible to do with the time constraints of a film.
When you look at the world of comic books as a close example, The Flash is a much more well-rounded character in the CW series. That show has had multiple seasons with more than 20 one-hour episodes each to tell his story. On the other side of the coin, you have movies like Justice League, where he is sharing screen time with five other heroes all crammed into 120 minutes.
Games have appeared on television before, but mostly in the form of cartoons like the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Legend of Zelda, or Sonic the Hedgehog. The Witcher was one of the very first video game television adaptations, and its success has led many to believe it could be the first of many more to come.
