Jason Momoa and Thomas Paʻa Sibbett came up with the idea for Chief of War back in 2015; it was originally conceived as a feature film centered on Kamehameha before being reworked into a series told from the perspective of Kaʻiana.

Apple TV+ ordered the project as an eight-episode miniseries in April 2022, with Momoa both starring in and executive producing.

Luciane Buchanan auditioned for her role via a long-distance Zoom table reading from Los Angeles opposite Jason Momoa.

Kaina Makua, who plays Kamehameha I, had no prior acting experience; he was a taro farmer and canoe racing coach before being recommended for the role by both Momoa and a cultural advisor.

Several former New Zealand All Blacks rugby players, including Piri Weepu, Frank Bunce, Kees Meeuws, Troy Flavell, Liam Messam, and Ofa Tuʻungafasi, make cameo appearances as Maui Kingdom warriors in the first episode.

Filming began around October 2022 in New Zealand, using the Bay of Islands to stand in for 18th century Hawaiʻi.

Major battle scenes were shot from mid-November to December in the lava fields of Kalapana, and filming continued even as Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in over three decades during that period.

Cultural advisors were embedded in every production department to ensure authenticity, going so far as to have war canoes (waʻa) built from scratch using real local materials and historical techniques.

Hans Zimmer and James Everingham collaborated with musician Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole on the soundtrack, which incorporates traditional Hawaiian instruments.

Momoa and Sibbett co-wrote all episodes, receiving assistance on Hawaiian-language dialogue from staff at Awaiaulu, a Honolulu-based archiving and translation company.

The series holds a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 45 critic reviews and a score of 71/100 on Metacritic based on 24 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.

Although initially announced as a limited miniseries, Momoa and Sibbett stated in July 2025 that a second and third season could potentially be greenlit.