Kraven The Hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has finally shared some details on his role in the upcoming Sony Pictures movie, confirming a pretty major departure from the comic books.
As one of Spider-Man's most formidable foes, Sergei Kravinoff was a ruthless big game hunter who turned his attention to the wall-crawler in an attempt to track and kill prey worthy of his standing. Though he was later depicted as an antihero who respected his opponents, he certainly had no qualms about killing animals (he even wore a lion's pelt as part of his costume).
Well, it sounds like the upcoming SPUMC movie is going to take the character in a very different direction.
While speaking to Variety, Johnson described Kraven as “one of Marvel’s most iconic, notorious anti-heroes — Spider Man’s number one rival.” He went on to say he found it refreshing that the character was “not an alien, or a wizard. He’s just a hunter, a human with conviction. An animal lover and a protector of the natural world. He’s a very, very cool character.” He then added that “this one is shot entirely on location.”
Kraven the Conservationist? To be fair, a bloodthirsty hunter wouldn't exactly be an easy sell as the lead in a superhero film, so it's not hard to understand why they'd make this change. That doesn't mean comic book fans aren't going to take issue with it, however!
Kraven the Hunter will also feature Russell Crowe in an undisclosed role (most likely Kraven's father), Fred Hechinger as The Chameleon, Ariana DeBose as Calypso, Christopher Abbott as The Foreigner, and Alessandro Nivola as another unnamed villain J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier; A Most Violent Year) directed 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.