God of War's Ryan Hurst tells everyone "not to believe everything they see on the internet" after sub-par Kratos first look

God of War's Kratos actor Ryan Hurst has offered up a puzzling response to the first look at the Prime Video show.

Hurst, who portrays the towering deity in Amazon's adaptation of Santa Monica Studios' mythological action series, left a simple message on social media for those disappointed by the glimpse of Kratos and Atreus during the start of production: "Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, kids."

The first image – taken from filming, but not necessarily indicative of the God of War TV show itself – sees Hurt's Kratos crouching over Atreus (Callum Vinson) as he gets set to fire a bow and arrow. It was rapidly met with displeasure online, with some on social media comparing it to an SNL skit or an AI-generated image.

Whether Hurst is referring to the first look (without color grading and other post-production magic) not being reflective of what's to come or something else entirely, it's a slightly confusing gambit from a show that has nailed everything else so far, from its pitch-perfect casting to bringing Outlander showrunner Ronald D. Moore on board.

Despite the lukewarm reaction from fans, it's also worth noting that Santa Monica Studio's Cory Barlog is operating as executive producer. Moore's words on Barlog's involvement even evokes the role Todd Howard has on another acclaimed Amazon video game adaptation – the Fallout show.

"I've had several meetings with Cory, and you ask Cory, 'Well, tell me about the backstory of this or how this works,' and he just can talk because he holds it all in his head," Moore told told Collider at last year's San Diego Comic-Con.

Moore continued, "And I usually pride myself about, as a showrunner, I can hold the season in my head. I know what the 10 episodes are, and I can tell you about them.

"Cory can tell you the whole thing in every possible way – all the mythology, how it connects one to the other, what the puzzles were, why they did this, and what that artifact did. It's really impressive. I mean, it is like a gigantic novel, even bigger than the Outlander novels, which is a lot to digest."

God of War is currently undated. If you're eager to see what else is coming to our screens, from BioShock to Horizon, then check out our guide to upcoming video game movies.