‘Kraven the Hunter’ – Everything We Know About the First R-Rated Spider-Verse Movie
Sony loves them some Spidey villains – Kraven the Hunter is the next to hit the big screen. Here’s what we know.
Kraven the Hunter, aka Sergei Kravinoff, isn’t a well-known character outside of comic book readers. He’s a creation of Ditko and Lee and has been one of Spider-Man’s regular villains since the mid-1960s. Kraven is a founding member of the Sinister Six. In the comics, Kraven is a Russian aristocrat that was forced to immigrate to America in 1917 after the February Revolution. He became an explorer and big game hunter. When the usual fair became too easy, he moved on to hunting the most dangerous game – Peter Parker and Marvel’s heroes. He uses a potion called Calypso Serum to enhance his abilities and extend his life. He also enjoys wearing garish clothing made out of his kills.
Venom Vol. 1 #157 via Marvel
What We Know About the Kraven the Hunter Movie
Sony has been pretty quiet about the project beyond casting. Based on what’s out there, Kraven the Hunter is a mixed bag.
The movie is directed by J.C. Chandor, who is known more for his political dramas than action movies. The script is from Marvel and Sony regular Matt Holloway (Iron Man on the good side, Uncharted on the bad). The cast is led by Aaron Taylor Johnson as Kraven, Russell Crowe is his playing his father, and Ariana DeBose is Calypso (of the famed potion). Christopher Abbott is the Foreigner, and Alessandro Nivola is bringing Rhino back to the screen. It’s been mentioned that the armored character is getting a new look. Hopefully, it’ll be something less goofy.
Paul Giamatti looked like he was having fun, at least.
The footage began in a rural countryside where a handful of apparent mercenaries are confronted and hack-and-slashed to death (lots of blood) by Kraven. Russell Crowe, as the dad, provides the “what you are and what you’ll be” narration, noting that he and his son are both predators. The next beat concerns a snowy action scene. We move to the city where he is told that he’s just another man hitting for a trophy. The final beat sees Kraven sitting in an office chair and spearing a baddie who walks into the room. We then get a final bit of action before a cryptic reveal of the Rhino. The tagline is “Nothing survives the hunt.”
Sounds like this is going to be a brutal action-adventure movie mixed with a boilerplate comic book origin story. Sony has confirmed that it’s R rated, which is a major departure for the studio that produced two PG-13 Venom movies. We can hope it’ll be better than those.
Kraven the Hunter is set to hit theaters on October 6th.
