God of War's Christopher Judge Won't Voice Young Kratos
Christopher Judge has earned high praise for his performance as an aged Kratos in the most recent God of War games, but he won’t be portraying the Ghost of Sparta’s younger self from the classic trilogy anytime soon. Before Judge stepped into the role of Kratos in 2018’s God of War, the vengeful Spartan warrior was voiced by Terrence C. Carson, also known for playing Jedi Master Mace Windu in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series and various Star Wars video games since the early 2000s.
Throughout his appearances in the original God of War games, Carson voiced Kratos at the height of his fury as he waged an increasingly destructive war against the Gods of Olympus. This is a striking contrast to Christopher Judge’s portrayal of the former Ghost of Sparta as an older and wearier outsider haunted by his old demons as he tries to build a more peaceful future with his son Atreus. The disparity between these two versions of Kratos was brought to the forefront in God of War Ragnarok’s Valhalla DLC, which saw the older Kratos come face-to-face with his past self after a grueling trek through the Viking afterlife.
The past Kratos shown at the end of God of War Ragnarok was silent during his memorable scene, and this is likely due to Christopher Judge refusing to voice him out of respect for Terrence C. Carson’s work in the original trilogy. In a brief video clip posted by YouTuber AbdBay, Judge expressed high praise for Carson’s performance and stated that he never set out to “match” him while creating his own take on Kratos. He goes on to say that he was recently contacted for a role that required him to emulate Carson’s younger Kratos, which Judge turned down because he felt it would have been disrespectful to him.
Recently, insiders have started claiming that a remaster of the first three God of War games might be in the works for the PlayStation 5, though nothing official has been confirmed yet. Many fans have been requesting such a remaster of Kratos’s classic journey through the realms of Greek myth, especially since the first two God of War games have only ever been re-released on the PlayStation 3. Meanwhile, 2010’s God of War 3 was remastered on the PlayStation 4 in 2015.
If the rumors of a remastered God of War trilogy collection are true, then fans who jumped onto the series with the more recent Norse games might have a chance to experience the classic version of Kratos as portrayed by Terrence C. Carson. This incarnation of Kratos is a drastically different character from the one that Christopher Judge played to critical acclaim in last year’s God of War Ragnarok, as noted by Judge himself. For this reason, Christopher Judge won’t voice the younger Ghost of Sparta in any future God of War projects - be they a rerelease of the previous games or a new prequel altogether.