Kraven the Hunter trailer big Spider-Man questions with some answers

And I’m Kraven some answers

• With
  
  Joshua Rivera
  

• on June 20, 2023 5:09 pm

This week, we finally got a look Kraven the Hunterthe next film in Sony’s emerging cinematic universe of Spider-Man villain films without Spider-Man. Cravenstarring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Doctrine, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Kick-Ass), is the latest in what I personally think is the most confusing franchise in Hollywood — not because it’s hard to follow, but because I can’t for the life of me figure out what anyone’s deal is or why Sony is doing them that’s all .

Craven follows Poison and its continuation as well as Morbius in Sony’s weird Spider-villain universe, which exists mostly because Sony owns the movie rights to all the heroes and villains directly related to Spider-Man and decided, for some reason, to make anti-hero movies with starring Spider-Man. We also get one Madame Web movie starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney in 2024.

So I have some questions, and I guess you do too. I’m going to put these questions into a helpful ‘Q&A’ ​​format, which we’ll all then do while pretending I’m not just disagreeing with myself.

So the whole point of Kraven being mauled by a lion made him better?

Oh…that sure seems to be it This Kraven’s deal is. Maybe the movie will explain more? But right now, it just looks like a lion is bleeding from young Kraven’s open wound, and now he has animal-themed superpowers.

What about the regular Kraven?

In the comics? He’s just a guy.

This is?

Yes! He simply imagines himself as the ultimate hunter, who will never be satisfied until he has hunted down all the most dangerous prey. A lot of times, that means Spider-Man. Why he was never as interested in, say, Wolverine or Captain America is anyone’s guess. As one of Spidey’s first villains, it’s rather personal at this point.

Later comics introduced an elaborate backstory for him, detailing his heritage as a Russian aristocrat tied in every way to a dastardly power jockey—as Succession, but much more confusing. At least some of that seems to be present in the film, thanks to the presence of Russell Crowe as Kraven’s father and Dmitri Smerdyakov (Fred Hechinger), Kraven’s half-brother, better known as The Chameleon.

So this is new to you too, huh?

Ayup. I am not crazy. Kraven has had superhuman abilities in some stories, but they’re usually pretty muted and not like that. Kraven The Hunter seems to have a more gonzo, violent point of view, and sure, why not?

Kraven the Movie sure looks pretty violent! How will Spider-Man fit in here?

I do not know! That’s the weirdest thing about these movies. as they are R-rated Spider-adjacent movies that Spider-Man — at least the current MCU version played by Tom Holland — can’t probably fit in. The MCU is not an R-rated part (at least not until Deadpool 3, which is its own weirdness). And even with the versatility of his interdimensional antics Beyond the Spider-Verse (which features a supporting character from Poison!) and Spider-Man: No Way Home, remains a little difficult imagine Sony aiming for the exact same audience that showed up for those movies to appear here.

Ha. What is the end game here?

Sony has had plans for a Sinister Six movie in one form or another for nearly a decade, though, officially, there are currently no plans for any filmmakers to take another stab at it. Sony has certainly put enough villains on screen to break away from this Spider-Man villain team, and Craven is set to feature more, with The Rhino (Alessandro Nivola) and Calypso (Ariana DeBose) joining Kraven and the Chameleon.

Well, yes, all things can happen. Maybe a new Spider-Man is in the R-rated Sony-verse, like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Morbius Both had confusing post-concert scenes that hinted that the MCU Spidey doesn’t exist in this world. Maybe Sony is going even harder and having all these villains unite against someone who is not Spiderman. Or maybe the unthinkable happens and the Tom Holland Peter Parker/Spider-Man we currently know and love has the great misfortune of facing all of these terrifying villains at once.

But the most likely answer? Sony’s Spider-villain movies have found a niche that isn’t really being served by anything else right now: violent, budget-friendly blockbusters with plenty of comic book hilarity. Admittedly, this is a crowded position. Poison found success within it while Morbius it didn’t, and it remains to be seen how long Sony can get away with a lightweight Spider-Zest instead of Spider-Man. But for now, it’s the weirdest thing happening in superhero cinema, and it’s only going to get weirder.

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