Sony ended the latest State of Play with a stunning reveal: God of War Laufey. While it continues the story started in the 2018 reboot, this entry leaves Kratos behind. Instead it stars Faye, the wife whose death sets into motion the events of the Norse saga. While the reveal has been met with some shock, game director Ariel Lawrence reveals it has been in the works longer than you might think.
In an interview with GameSpot, Lawrence says Cory Barlog (GoW 2018's director) "always knew how important Faye was to the kind of next evolution of God of War storytelling." Lawrence elaborates, noting that when creating the character Barlog wanted to find an actor who could be Faye: "He was incredibly intentional about that."
Barlog and Sony Santa Monica managed to find their Faye in Deborah Ann Woll, who first appeared as the character in 2022's Ragnarök. Woll returns to the roll for God of War Laufey.
"I'm pretty sure Cory told her in Ragnarök [development]," Lawrence notes, recalling an interaction with Woll. "She was like, 'I've had to keep this under wraps for, I don't know, what is it, 8,10 years at this point.'"
However you do the math, it suggests Barlog has actually had big plans for Faye since before the reboot's release in 2018. From a story perspective, that does make sense, as Laufey's narrative will run parallel to that of Kratos in GoW 2018.
Lawrence notes that Faye's character and role has been a "twinkle" in Cory Barlog's eye for a while. Her story isn't something that came out of nowhere, as some fans felt; God of War has been building to this the whole time.
