Aaron Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to superhero movies as his big break came in 2010's Kick-Ass. Five years later, he made the leap to the MCU for Avengers: Age of Ultron and now, nearly a decade on, we'll see him take centre stage in Kraven the Hunter.
That's another Marvel movie from Sony Pictures and, after Morbius and Madame Web, it's fair to say fans don't exactly have high hopes for Kraven's big screen debut (in a movie which won't include Spider-Man but does boast a mutant Rhino).
Talking to Rolling Stone, Taylor-Johnson opened up on what drew him to Kraven the Hunter and why he enjoys the challenge Marvel movies present.
"I think there was something unique about this character, and something grounded," the actor said. "We’ve all had enough of seeing certain studio films, a certain kind of pop culture...where they’re churning out stuff that dilutes wanting to go to the cinema. I wouldn’t have signed onto it if I felt there wasn’t something to really bring to life with this character."
"Taking on a Sony / Marvel movie is a different challenge altogether," he later added. "There’s the story, the character, the role; that’s one thing. But then you also step into a world where you’re dealing with a studio and a franchise - or possible franchises, though let’s not get ahead of ourselves."
"So, they’re rolling the dice on me, in a sense, which is a lovely thing. But you’ve got to appease the studio, please the audience and do what’s dignified for you as an actor. I find all of that super challenging."
Just like Morbius backfired on Jared Leto and Madame Web did few favours for Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, we can't help but think Kraven the Hunter won't end well for Taylor-Johnson. The Venom franchise doesn't appear to have hurt Tom Hardy, though, so we'll see what happens.
On the plus side, the actor does likely have another major franchise on the horizon as the new 007 in James Bond.
"I can only really talk about the things I’m going to show and tell," Taylor-Johnson said of the persistent rumours. "I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can f*ckin’ do better."
Directed by J. C. Chandor from a screenplay by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk, Kraven the Hunter stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe.
Kraven the Hunter is set to be released in theaters on August 30.