God of War Actor Christopher Judge Explains Why He Won't Play Young Kratos

God of War actor Christopher Judge doesn't have any interest in playing a younger version of Kratos for a very specific reason. The God of War franchise is one of the biggest series on PlayStation, stretching all the way back to the PS2. The hack and slash games became some of the most beloved titles on the PS2 and PS3 before concluding on the latter platform. Almost a decade later, God of War returned with a new version of Kratos, one that was looking for a new life, but still haunted by his past. To portray this version of Kratos, Sony Santa Monica sought a new actor for the role and chose actor Christopher Judge who has been praised up and down for his nuanced take on the God of War. 

During a recent live stream with Streamily (via IGN), Christopher Judge talked about how he avoided looking at the performance of original Kratos actor Terrence C. Carson because he respected him so much and wanted to do his own thing. 

"I never watched any of the scenes from the earlier (God of War games) because TC's so great, and I thought it would be a disservice to try to voice match him or anything, nor did they ask for it," Judge said. "From the very beginning, it was about making it my own."

Judge went on to note that he has no desire to play a younger version of Kratos for that very reason and was even asked to do something in that vein, but rejected it. It's likely this is in reference to a moment in the recent God of War Ragnarok DLC where we see Kratos reflecting on his past and sees the younger version of himself. It's possible there would've been more to that moment, but the dialogue was cut after Judge didn't want to step on TC Carson's toes.

"They wanted me to somewhat match the voice of that character, and I said, 'Absolutely not,'" Judge explained. "I love this dude. That would be such a slight. We are not celebrated for what we, as individuals, bring to stuff. That's across the board, no matter what you do. I just think it's inherently wrong to try to commandeer something else that someone has already established."

It's also possible Judge was asked to maybe do the voice of Kratos for remakes of the original God of War games, as there are rumors circulating about such a thing. If that's the case, then we may get Carson's original performance in these rumored re-releases as opposed to Judge doing a new one, but we'll have to see.