The first look at Amazon's God of War TV show dares to ask: What if dadbod Kratos?

The world continues to churn inexorably towards a time when Amazon's God of War TV series will be real and released, and our latest milestone on that long road is this: our first look at Ryan Hurst as Kratos and Callum Vinson as Atreus (via Variety).

It is, you would be right to point out, not much; just Kratos bending slightly to observe his eager young son attempt to make a shot with his bow. Nevertheless, the reaction it provoked in the PC Gamer Slack was sizeable. It was also, ah, mostly less-than-positive.

Let's be clear: making any definitive judgment about this project based on a single behind-the-scenes holiday snap would be madness. Still, our team of writers immediately latched onto details like the strange newness and cleanliness of Kratos and Atreus' garb, the fact that the young lad's hair seemed to ripple with product that would probably not be easily attainable in fantasy-Scandinavia, and a general, strange uncanniness to the whole thing. It's hard to put your finger on, but something about the way the light falls combined—again—with their too-perfect attire makes the whole thing seem almost CGI.

One thing that got universal approval, though? Kratos' pose makes his gut poke out a little, and the notion of dadbod Kratos is simply too magical to criticise. It's also quite relatable, I imagine, to anyone who shares a certain volume of belly. Not me, mind. I'm insanely jacked. Ask anyone.

If you've not been keeping track, Amazon's God of War is taking the precise opposite tack that Amazon's Fallout did. Rather than telling its own story in the world of the game, it's retelling the story of the two most recent games—God of War and God of War: Ragnarok.

The showrunner is Ronald D Moore, who you probably most recently associate with his work on Apple TV's For All Mankind. It's not yet certain when the show will come out.