Deadline is reporting that Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III; The Many Saints of Newark) has signed on to star opposite BAFTA Film Award-nominee Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron; Tenet) in Sony Pictures' upcoming Marvel adventure Kraven the Hunter, where he'll play the lead villain (no details on his character were shared).
The pair are joined by Academy Award-nominee Ariana DeBose (West Side Story; Hamilton) as Calypso, Fred Hechinger (White Lotus; The Woman in the Window) as Chameleon, and Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator; Thor: Love and Thunder) as Kraven's father.
J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year; Triple Frontier) is directing with a screenplay from the writing duo of Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Uncharted; Iron Man) and Richard Wenk (The Equalizer; Jack Reacher: Never Go Back).
Following the roaring back-to-back success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony finds itself in quite a favorable situation moving forward as they continue to flesh out their live-action Spider-Man Universe, which will take another step forward this April with the arrival of Jared Leto's Morbius.
A Madame Web-centric project starring Dakota Johnson is in early development, but there's a strong possibility it will morph into more of an ensemble picture. After that, fans should expect to see Spider-Man and Venom sequels relatively soon as it's highly doubtful the studio will keep either on the sideline for two long after the thunderous response to their most recent outings.
Kraven the Hunter will roar into theaters on January 13, 2023.