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Kraven the Hunter is the name of an upcoming superhero film in the United States produced by Columbia Pictures in partnership with Marvel. The film is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. According to current plans, Sony Pictures Releasing will release it, and it will be the fourth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). J. C. Chandor directs the movie, and Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk are responsible for the writing. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the title role and has Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Fred Hechinger, and Alessandro Nivola in supporting roles.
Several times before 2017, Sony expressed interest in creating a standalone film for the character of Kraven the Hunter as a part of their new shared universe. This led to the character being considered for film appearances on multiple occasions. Wenk was the first employee to be brought on board in August 2018, followed by Marcum and Holloway. In August 2020, Chandor began negotiations to direct, and the role of Taylor-Johnson was cast in May 2021, when it was officially announced. Additional casting took place at the beginning of 2022, before the beginning of filming at the end of March in London, England, which lasted until the middle of June. Additionally, the shooting took place in Iceland, and it was anticipated to occur in Glasgow.
In “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s iconic Spider-Man antagonist Sergei Kravinoff, also known as “Kraven,” was alluded to. Kraven was one of the original members of the Sinister Six and was developed by Lee and Ditko. In the Marvel Comics universe, Kraven is portrayed as a Russian nobleman whose family was forced to leave Russia and come to the United States in 1917 due to the February Revolution. After reaching the sport’s pinnacle, Kraven transformed into an obsessed large-game hunter and set his sights on Spider-Man to prove that he was the best Hunter in the world. In 2014, director Marc Webb expressed interest in bringing the character to the big screen as he was working on The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
In 2017, after having entertained the idea of making a Kraven movie for many years, Sony became interested in the character as the subject of a standalone movie. After that, in August of 2018, Richard Wenk was brought on to create a script for Kraven the Hunter, and in March of 2019, Sony stated that they were moving through with the film’s production. Surprisingly, director Ryan Coogler had planned to include the villain Kraven in his Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Black Panther before he found out that Sony owned the cinematic rights to Kraven. As a result, the next film will provide Kraven with the long-overdue opportunity to debut in Sony’s shared superhero universe.
Cast
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff
- Russell Crowe
- Ariana DeBose as Calypso
- Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich, aka ‘The Rhino,”
- Christopher Abbott, as The Foreigner
- Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov
- Levi Miller
- Greg Kolpakchi as Guard
- Robert Ryan as a Russian Prisoner
- Murat Seven as mer Aksoy
- Will Bowden as Sniper 1
- Tianyi Kiy as a Restaurant Diner
- Jessica Zhou as Passerby
- Luke Dixey as Aleksei’s Office Guard
- Judy Blackett as Restaurant Diner
- Sachiko Yokoyama as Law Firm Staff
- Valerie Hazan as Passerby
- Stephane Fichet as passerby
What is the Release Date Of Kraven the Hunter?
Kraven the Hunter is expected to debut in theaters across the United States on October 6, 2023, and will be presented in IMAX. The date had been moved up from its former slot of January 13, 2023.
Following the film’s run in theaters and its release on home media, Sony Pictures Entertainment entered into a multiyear agreement with the streaming platform Crave, based in Canada, to distribute its movies beginning in April 2023. Crave has acquired the streaming rights to “pay-one” window titles, including Kraven the Hunter.
Who is the Director of Kraven the Hunter?
J. C. Chandor is the stage name of American director Jeffrey McDonald Chandor, who is best known for penning and directing the motion pictures Margin Call (2011), All Is Lost (2013), A Most Violent Year (2014), Triple Frontier (2019), and Kraven the Hunter (2023).
What is the Plot of Kraven the Hunter?
Kraven, a Russian game catcher with aspirations of becoming the best Hunter in the world by capturing Spider-Man, will unavoidably serve as the story’s protagonist. In this movie, it’s not out of the question that he’s more of an anti-hero than a villain, much like Venom and Morbius were presented in the Marvel Comics universe.
According to Richard Wenk, the screenwriter for this movie, Sony has plans to adapt the comic book series Kraven’s Last Hunt at some point in the future, which may have some bearing on the movie’s storyline.
In Kraven’s Last Hunt, Kraven kills Spider-Man and steals his identity. And then, when Spider-Man returns, Kraven pits Vermin, a mutant with characteristics similar to rats, against the hero. Kraven captured Vermin. Kraven manages to stop the mutant in the nick of time, just as he is about to give up his hunting career and take his own life when Spider-Man comes dangerously close to being killed by Vermin. It’s a thrilling tale, and many consider it among the best Spider-Man tales ever told.
Regarding the video presented at Cinema-Con, IGN states that “the footage had a ton of gruesome kills in it as Kraven is seen taking out poachers and mercs alike.” In addition, the media site states that “There is a very brief shot of Sergei holding up the classic fur costume that Kraven wore in the Marvel comics.”
