Everything We Know About Sony’s Kraven The Hunter Movie

Sony’s Kraven the Hunter solo film set in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters has been in development for a number of years, even before the debut of Tom Holland as Spider-Man. After years of delays, filming finally commenced in 2022 in Europe. The Kraven movie will be the next in Sony’s live-action slate of movies centered on the origin stories of villains and antiheroes from Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery. That started with 2018’s Venom, starring Tom Hardy in the titular role, and with the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage in 2021.

In 2022 Morbius, with Jared Leto in the lead role, hit theaters as the second of Spider-Man’s villains to get the movie treatment. As such, Sony was eager to get the ball rolling in earnest on Kraven. While Sergei Kravinoff, a.k.a. Kraven the Hunter, is one of Spider-Man’s deadliest foes, he’s also one of the most unique. As such, the impressive hunter is the perfect choice to receive a live-action adaptation on the big screen. Many of the details of Kraven The Hunter’s jump to the big screen are being kept under wraps, but there is still plenty for fans to dissect about the project.

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The Latest Kraven The Hunter News

Outside of casting announcements and shuffling of release dates, Sony has kept news about Kraven The Hunter very quiet. The latest on the movie is that the principal stars wrapped filming in mid-2022. According to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the movie was filmed almost entirely on location instead of in a studio (via Collider). The cast and crew shot in Iceland and England and were expected to shoot in Scotland as well. Taylor-Johnson, as the titular Kraven, was the only cast member confirmed to have been signed on for multiple features as well (via IGN), so fans could see him in more Spider-Man-related properties in the future.

Kraven The Hunter Release Date

Though it faced several delays and being rescheduled, Kraven the Hunter is slated for release on October 6, 2023. Kraven was directed by J.C. Chandor (who also directed Netflix’s Triple Frontier), with the script coming from Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk.

Kraven the Hunter is Sony’s fourth villain project, following the success of Tom Hardy’s Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, as well as Morbius. Sony also has Madame Web on the way, featuring another character from their Spider-Man catalog of characters as well as other Spider-Man-related projects in development.

Kraven The Hunter Cast

Kraven is played by actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is certainly no stranger when it comes to superhero roles, playing the titular hero in the Kick-Ass films as well as the MCU’s Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. This also falls into line with early reports that Sony was looking for an actor resembling Joel Kinnaman for their leading role, and Taylor-Johnson certainly seems to fit that bill.

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In addition to Taylor-Johnson, the movie is stacked with actors playing Marvel comic book villains, but there will apparently be no hunting of Spider-Man for Kraven this time around. Christopher Abbot is playing The Foreigner, Fred Hechinger is Dmitri Smerdyakov (aka the Chameleon), and Ariana DeBose is playing Calypso, though she’s Kraven’s love interest instead of a primary villain. Initially, none of the characters were confirmed by Sony, but each of the actors discussed playing the different characters in interviews.

Also appearing in the movie in unknown roles are Russell Crowe, Levi Miller, and Alessandro Nivola. Crowe recently made his debut in another Marvel movie, appearing as Zeus in Thor: Love And Thunder. Miller has appeared in a handful of high-profile adaptations in the past, like Pan and A Wrinkle In Time, but this would be his first Marvel movie. Nivola has teased Kraven in interviews, saying that he’ll also be playing a Marvel villain in the movie, one that undergoes a transformation, so there’s a lot for fans to look forward to.

Kraven The Hunter Story Details

The exact plot details of the movie are being kept under wraps. There are, however, a few things writer Richard Wenk has teased about Kraven the Hunter’s plot and narrative. Wenk has spoken about the story being largely inspired by what is arguably the biggest and most dynamic Kraven story from the comics which features an epic showdown with Spider-Man. While Spider-Man might not appear in the movie, that doesn’t mean that the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” inspiration won’t be felt.

In an interview with the Discussing Film podcast, Wenk has said that he’d liked to see Kraven and the Webslinger coming face-to-face in the film: “I think that where we’re all circling is that this is Kraven’s Last Hunt, and whether this is the precursor to that movie, whether it will include it, we’re talking about those things.” While any number of things could change, “Kraven’s Last Hunt” would be huge, especially if it includes Spider-Man himself. It’s also possible that Kraven’s film could have its focus on the hunter’s origins, with Spider-Man being featured in a potential sequel. Wenk mentioned the possibility of the film being a two-part narrative.

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Kraven The Hunter Trailer

A trailer for Kraven The Hunter has yet to be released by Sony, though images from Kraven filming have surfaced online. The first footage was also used for potential investors during a reel for the studio at CinemaCon in April 2022. Fans can expect a teaser trailer at some point in 2023, but a full-length trailer likely won’t release until July 2023, giving it a few months of hype before hitting theaters.

Could Kraven The Hunter Connect To The MCU?

The big question on the minds of Marvel fans is whether Kraven’s story will connect to the Spider-Man of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has already had his own trilogy of films and appeared in another three movies set in the MCU, but he hasn’t crossed over into Sony’s universe of villains. It’s less likely that Kraven is a part of the MCU, and more likely that Kraven’s story is set in the same universe as Venom and Morbius.

Morbius features Easter eggs that allude to the Spider-Man villains Rhino, Black Cat, and Chameleon, making the link seem even more likely. Some fans theorize that the villains could exist in a different Spider-Man universe, like that of Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man, whom there has been increasing interest in since his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Regardless, the Spider-Man villains have been painted as anti-heroes instead of antagonists so far, and the same is likely true for Kraven The Hunter.

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