Of the PlayStation IPs that have popped up over the last several decades, God of War is one that left a significant mark on both the gaming industry and gaming community. It's one of the most influential hack-and-slash franchises ever created and even after fifteen years, God of War remains relevant. However, one individual who served an important role in the franchise's infancy explained why he wasn't featured in the latest installment.
Before Christopher Judge took over as Kratos' voice actor, the character was portrayed by TC Carson, an American singer and voice actor, who also played Mace Windu in various Star Wars projects. Before the release of God of War (2018), many fans found it odd how Carson was getting replaced after playing the character in every single game up until that point, but there's a decent reason for it.
In a recent interview that Carson did with YouTube channel djvlad, Carson explains why he was unable to reprise the role of Kratos. When Carson previously did the character, he provided the voiceover, while another actor did the motion capture. Going into God of War (2018), Cory Barlog, the director of the game, wanted the voiceover and motion capture to be provided by the same person and Carson's body type didn't match how Kratos looked in-game. Hence, the casting of Christopher Judge instead.
Although, on the topic of his replacement, Carson mentioned how unceremonious it was. Apparently, Sony hadn't reached out to him with regards to Kratos' recasting, which came off as unprofessional to Carson. This situation is almost similar to Kiefer Sutherland replacing David Hayter as Snake in Metal Gear Solid 5.
In any case, it's interesting how much overlap there is in terms of both voiceover and motion capture. It's often the case that voiceover and motion capture is done by separate people, but that isn't always true, especially with newer games, and sometimes issues can occur as a result. For instance, the remaster of Marvel's Spider-Man features a remodeled Peter Parker that was not received favorably by the gaming community initially.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds in terms of God of War. Given the massive success the most recent entry received, it's clear that there is still a lot of demand for the series. With the release of God of War: Ragnarok on the horizon for 2021, fans of the series have quite a lot to look forward to.
God of War (2018) is available now exclusively for the PS4.