Following a recent report that The Power of The Dog Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee was offered the part of the villainous Chameleon in Kraven the Hunter, it's now come to light that Sony Pictures has cast Fred Hechinger in the role.
While Deadline stresses that his character hasn't been confirmed, the trade believes that Hechinger "will play the brother of Kraven, aka Chameleon, in the movie."
In the comics, Dmitri Smerdyakov was Kraven's half-brother and the very first adversary of Spider-Man. Sergei Kravinoff was often abusive towards Smerdyakov, but if Chameleon is indeed set to be the principal antagonist, we can probably expect their positions to be reversed.
Kick-Ass and Avengers: Age of Ultron actor Aaron Taylor Johnson will play Kraven, while Russell Crowe recently joined the cast in an undisclosed role.
Hechinger can currently be seen in a supporting role in Hulu's Pam and Tommy, but has also appeared in the likes of White Lotus, Fear Street, The Woman in The Window, and Tom Hanks western The News of The World.
J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier; A Most Violent Year) will direct Kraven from a screenplay from Art Marcum, Matt Holloway (Iron Man; Uncharted) and Richard Wenk (The Equalizer; Jack Reacher: Never Go Back). The movie is currently scheduled for a theatrical release on January 13, 2023.