The internet hate machine seems to consume almost every game now, stretching the noxious culture war narratives that have infected politics at large over this popular hobby. God of War Laufey has been the target of such hate, with harassment trickling down to Faye actor Deborah Ann Woll. It’s gotten so heinous that her Daredevil co-star Vincent D’Onofrio has stepped into the fray to defend his Marvel co-star.
D’Onofrio’s defense came in the form of a reply on social media. The original post from a user going by the telling handle of Geralt of Goonia called out Santa Monica Studio for its recently announced pre-order and deluxe edition DLC for Laufey, seemingly attacking the bonus armor for not being skimpy enough.
D’Onofrio replied saying he didn’t agree with the poster, calling Ann Woll beautiful, talented, smart, kind, a nerd, a good friend, and “perfect.” He then said he is a fan of the God of War series and “cannot wait” to play Laufey with his son. The reply currently has over 2 million views, and despite continued barbing from the original poster, D’Onofrio did not engage further. D’Onofrio and Ann Woll worked together in both the Netflix and modern eras of the Daredevil TV series, with the former playing the intimidating antagonist Kingpin and the latter portraying spunky Daredevil ally Karen Page.
Laufey was immediately sucked into the all-encompassing culture war that festers on X and YouTube because of its female lead and the handful of cherry-picked stills that were used as “evidence” to support the strange notion Santa Monica Studios was degrading Ann Woll’s real-life physical appearance for the game. It’s a popular tactic others have deployed against Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and many other games that don’t abide by the hypersexualized body standards seen in titles like Stellar Blade and The First Descendant.
When asked about the harassment, Ann Woll said she thought she was “going to be much more affected by it” and noted her lack of social media presence and quality of the game has probably helped it roll off her.
“One, I’m not on social media, so that helps,” said Ann Woll. “And two, I don’t know, I feel totally unbothered because I just know it’s great. Like, it’s okay if it’s not your cup of tea, but in no universe is it bad.”
Are you looking forward to God of War Laufey? Tell us in the comments.
