Dave Bautista Reveals He's Gained 20 Pounds of Muscle to Play Kratos in the God of War Series

Dave Bautista has revealed he's gained 20 pounds of muscle in preparation for his role as Kratos in Prime Video's God of War series.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star officially replaced Ryan Hurst in the role back in August, after Hurst tore a bicep during the filming of a stunt for the series and had to be withdrawn from the production due to the estimated length of his recovery. In early September, Bautista shared a video on Instagram flexing his improved physique, noting that he had been weight training for three weeks and had two months to "get where he needs to be."

Now it seems those two months are up, with Bautista sharing a new video to his Instagram story with the text "Gained 20 lbs for GOW" and a "250" sticker on it, indicating his current weight. The actor is also wearing a God of War t-shirt in the post.

Dave Bautista reveals he has gained 20 more pounds of muscle for playing Kratos in ‘GOD OF WAR’.

He has now reached 250 pounds. https://t.co/fUOr0P7EAB

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 1, 2026

Bautista, who maintained an average weight of 290 pounds during his WWE wrestling career, had previously lost a lot of his muscle mass in recent years in an effort to open up more diverse acting roles and feel more comfortable on camera. This caused him to slim down quite dramatically, to the point that some God of War fans questioned his suitability to play the musclebound spartan in the Prime Video series after his involvement was confirmed. However, this latest update from the newly buffed-up Bautista sure seems to have proved those naysayers wrong.

Prime Video's God of War series is set to be based on the Norse mythology era of the PlayStation videogame franchise, and will follow father and son Kratos (Bautista) and Atreus (Callum Vinson) as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye, at the highest peak of the nine realms. Two seasons of the show have been ordered.