Amazon is releasing a *God of War* series. To do justice to Kratos, Dave Bautista is practically living at the gym.
It was only about two and a half months ago that it was announced that Dave Bautista would replace the injured Ryan Hurst in the upcoming God of War series. Now, the 57-year-old Marvel star has already gained 20 pounds (about 9 kg) of muscle. That’s quite a lot in such a short time, and fans are visibly concerned that his health won’t hold up. After all, his predecessor had to withdraw from the project due to a torn bicep.
“He Sacrifices His Health”
On his Instagram account, former wrestler Dave Bautista proudly shows off his new muscles in his Story—muscles he specifically rebuilt for his portrayal of the demigod Kratos.& nbsp;To go with the look, Bautista is, of course, also wearing a God of War T-shirt.
He writes under the post: “Gained 20 pounds for GOW [God of War]” (via Variety). The sticker in the post refers to his current weight, which is 250 pounds, or about 113 kg:
Even though this muscle mass is typical for Kratos and contributes to a film adaptation that could do the video game justice, fans are more concerned than excited. Many even suspect that Bautista has used performance-enhancing substances:
He’s sacrificing his health to fall back into addiction—all for the sake of fame.
– @Itowndub36
Is it possible to gain 20 pounds of muscle mass naturally in two months on your own?
– @Three_Froggy_Problem
Most Hollywood superstars take vitamin T.
– @beastfacebasterd
That’s sad, because I remember him saying he didn’t want to play those kinds of roles anymore because it was unhealthy and he was sick of it. That was one of the reasons he wanted to wrap things up with Drax in the MCU.
– @One_Lung-G
However, there are also some voices speaking up in support of Bautista. After all, he has a long career as a wrestler behind him and should know his body better than anyone else:
He’ll pull this off brilliantly. The costumes and makeup will be incredible, and I promise you that Bautista has the acting talent to make this a success.
– @Rezzone
I don’t know why people view this so negatively. Dave is even said to have initially turned down the role of Kratos because he really didn’t want to build muscle and was hoping for more serious acting roles. But he was hired as a replacement due to an injury and was probably paid generously for it—why can’t the guy just jump back in and do whatever it takes to get the money? His approach to losing weight was focused on long-term health and more serious acting roles—it’s totally fine if that changes when life-changing money is on the line.
– @dzone25
Where the Criticism and Concern from Fans Comes From
After his role in the 2023 horror thriller *Knock at the Cabin*, Bautista paid closer attention to his diet and lost about 34 kilograms by the end of 2024. In an interview at the time, the actor explained that he felt much more comfortable with his slimmer physique (via Live with Kelly & Mark).
Furthermore, Bautista made it clear as early as January 2023 (via GQ) that he wants to focus on serious roles in the future and turn his back on muscle-bound characters like Drax. Well, it seems the actor is making one more exception for Kratos.
At least in this regard, the two are a good match: The demigod Kratos certainly doesn’t lack seriousness. Dave Bautista can’t cut corners here either.
