It's... Kraven time?
Sony Pictures' latest SSU movie, Kraven The Hunter, was not a box office success (to say the least), only managing to take in about $60 million worldwide on a reported budget of $110 million. The R-rated Marvel Comics adventure was also lambasted by critics, and now sits at 16% on Rotten Tomatoes (though it does have a much better Audience Score of 74%).
Kraven's failure may have effectively served as the final nail in the coffin for these Spider-Man-less Spider-Man spin-offs, but the movie has proven to be very popular on Digital platforms, and has actually become the No. 1 film on Apple TV+.
Of course, any new content usually does pretty well initially, so it remains to be seen how Kraven fares in the long term. That said, this is still a pretty impressive feat when you consider that the mighty Wicked also made its VOD debut recently.
Despite Kraven tanking, there may be life in the SSU yet. Deadline recently reported that Sony is "taking this misfire very seriously," and "has a reset in store."
We're not sure what this means for the projects that were either already in development or being discussed (Agent Venom, a Sinister Six movie, etc), but wouldn't be at all surprised if the studio went back to the drawing board and scrapped any ideas that may have been in place.
Is a franchise focused on Spider-Man characters without the iconic wall-crawler something even worth attempting to salvage? Many fans would say no, but there's no denying the success of the Venom trilogy (The Last Dance was the worst box office performer of the three, but still made a lot more than Morbius and Madame Web).
Have you watched Kraven the Hunter yet? If so, what did you think?
“Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.”
Kraven the Hunter is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is intended to be the sixth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The film was directed by J. C. Chandor and written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk.
In addition to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, Ariana DeBose will play Calypso, a voodoo priestess and Kraven's on-off love interest (in the comics, at least); Fred Hechinger is Dmitri Smerdyakov, aka the Chameleon, who is Kraven's half-brother; Alessandro Nivola will play Aleksei Sytsevich, aka the Rhino, and Christopher Abbott will portray another villain known as the Foreigner.
The movie has been rated R for "Strong bloody violence, and language."