Prime Video's live-action God of War series is recasting two young roles for its second season, and the reason is built into the story itself.

Casting calls for Season 2 are seeking actors aged 14–17 for characters listed as "Joshua" and "Ruth" — apparent codenames for Atreus and Thrud, according to Videogames Chronicle. The first season's casting call had sought actors aged 9–12. The age bump tracks a time skip in the source material: Season 2 may adapt the events of God of War: Ragnarok, the PlayStation game that picks up several years after the first game's story.

In Season 1, Atreus is played by Callum Vinson and Thrud by Island Austin. Both were announced on February 27, 2026, when Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios released a first-look image showing them on set alongside Ryan Hurst as Kratos. Those roles will now pass to older performers.

The casting description for the Atreus role — listed under the codename Joshua — calls for an actor who is empathetic, brave, and curious, with a trusting nature that leaves the character vulnerable to manipulation. Auditioning actors must also be comfortable with physical combat, especially archery. The brief tracks closely with Atreus's arc in the games, where the character's coming-of-age and his susceptibility to outside influence are central to the story.

The recasting of Atreus and Thrud is not the only cast change the production is navigating. Ryan Hurst, originally cast as Kratos, sustained an on-set injury in June that tore his bicep and required surgery, according to Videogames Chronicle. Deadline reported that four episodes had already been filmed when the injury occurred, and that those episodes will now need to be reshot with Hurst's replacement.

So Season 2 arrives with a substantially different cast from the one Prime Video unveiled just months ago. Kratos, Atreus, and Thrud — three of the series' most prominent roles — are all in transition. The story reasons for the younger characters are clear: a time skip demands older actors. Hurst's departure is a production reality, driven by an injury that the timeline could not absorb.

For fans of the games, the structural logic will be familiar. The gap between the 2018 God of War and its 2022 sequel Ragnarok is a multi-year jump during which Atreus grows from a child into a teenager, navigating his identity as part-giant, part-god. The show appears to be following that same path, with the casting calls to match.