Sony’s Developed An…Interesting Take On Kraven The Hunter

When Sony is finished with the supporting cast of Spider-Man, will the webslinger have any villains left? We have to wonder after Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has been cast as Kraven the Hunter in Sony’s upcoming movie of the same name, described his character to Variety recently.

Taylor-Johnson said that Kraven was “one of Marvel’s most iconic, notorious anti-heroes, Spider Man’s number one rival.” That’s one way of putting it. In the comics Kraven is an obsessed hunter to an insane degree, always looking for the ultimate challenge — which he sees in Spider-Man. Kraven isn’t the kind of fella you’d be comfortable sharing a beer with. He hunts to kill.

But…not this one! “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,” Taylor-Johnson said. This is a drastic revision from the Kraven of the comics, who is only obsessed with himself and the thrill of hunting whatever it is he’s after.

These are the changes Sony feels they have to make, though, if they want to give every classic Spidey villain his or her own movie like they’re planning to. The general consensus is that no one wants to see a movie based around a REAL villain (or at least, families wouldn’t pay to go see such a thing), so the characters have to be softened up a bit.

This is how we got the Internet’s new favorite chew toy, Morbius — and the best Kraven can hope for is to meme as hard. Kraven The Hunter opens on January 13, 2023.