6 Astounding Things We Learned From Kraven The Hunter’s New Trailer: Will Spider-Man Featured In The Movie?
As one of the most popular superheroes in Marvel Comics, Spider-Man is not short of enemies. In fact, a good amount of Spidey’s iconic and formidable arch-nemesis has been brought to the big screen by both Sony and Marvel, such as Doctor Octavius, Green Goblin, Venom, and The Vulture, to name a few. However, there is still one big bad guy that fans love very much who hasn’t made his live-action debut yet, and he’s none other than Kraven The Hunter, the glorious trophy hunter of Marvel Comics.
After years of waiting and anticipation, Marvel fans finally get want they always wanted: a solo Kraven movie, with the former MCU star Adam Taylor-Johnson starring the hunter. After a few months of teasing, Sony Pictures has finally released the official trailer for the TV show, which shed some light on the fan-favorite anti-hero’s live-action outlook, his rivals, and what he has in store for us.
#1. Who’s Kraven The Hunter?
Source: Marvel Comics
Rumored to be inspired by the novel character General Zaroff, Kraven’s real name is Sergei Kravinoff, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and also a founder member of the original Sinister Six. In the comics, he’s a wealthy Russian Man who moved to the US in 1917 to become the greatest big-game hunter ever, and Spider-Man is one of his most sought-after targets.
While born a mortal, Kraven The Hunter finds and drinks a mystical herb serum, which grants him super strength, speed, and durability. The herb also greatly enhances his athleticism and significantly slows down his aging process. Takes pride in his strength, Kraven always tries to fight Spider-Man fair and square, and causes the Web-Slinger a lot of trouble with his unorthodox fighting style and aggressiveness.
#2. The trailer completely rewrites Kraven’s origin.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
One notable aspect of the new trailer is how Sony has done a complete revamp of the villain’s backstory, which deviates from his comic origins. While in the comic, the hunter gains his superhuman powers from a mysterious serum, but in the trailer, he acquires it after a drop of blood from the lion he’s hunting falls into one of his open wounds, which causes a reaction inside his body.
In an earlier interview this year, star actor Adam Taylor-Johnson also revealed how Kraven’s origin will be very different from the comics. He confirmed that Sony’s Kraven is “an animal lover and a protector of nature”, which completely contradicts what the villain stands for in Marvel comics.
#3. The movie is likely to revolve around Kraven’s family feud.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
The trailer has given us a closer look into Kraven’s complex family, with Russell Crowe as his father Nikolai, and Fred Hechinger as Dimitri, Sergei’s half-brother, who also takes on the mantle of the Chameleon in the comics. It turns out, Sergei’s family has been trophy hunters for generations, who prioritize strength and despise weaknesses. The children must prove their value by hunting a big game, or being left behind. Sergei fails to prove his worth at first and is left to die by Nikolai, but with his newfound power, the anti-hero will come back for revenge.
His relationship with Dmitri is not going smooth, either, with the latter criticizing his actions in the trailer: “You are exactly like our father, just another man hunting for a trophy.” We might get to see the two iconic villains fight each other, or team up to clash against their vicious father Nikolai.
#4. The trailer also features another iconic Spider-Man villain.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Besides Kraven, another grand villain of Peter Parker also makes his appearance in the trailer, and it’s none other than The Rhino, portrayed by Alessandro Nivola. While his screen time is brief, the bad guy got fans on their feet with his new unique shapeshifting ability, as he can transform his arm into what looks like the rhinoceros’ skin, which may enhance his strength and durability in combat.
With the inclusion of Rhino, the villain may serve as the final boss that Kraven has to fight in the movie. The two rarely encounter each other in the comic, but fans would be delighted to see their clash, as Rhino’s animal moniker might fit Kraven’s prey criteria, and the former’s strength might prove to be a challenge for the anti-hero.
#5. Kraven’s love interest is also in the movie.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
The trailer also features one more important character in Sergei Kravinoff’s life, his lover Calypso. In the comics, Calypso is a Haitian voodoo priestess, who can cast spells, and create potions and charms. In the trailer, she’s portrayed by Ariana DeBose, who describes Kraven’s fighting style as “lunatic”. It is unsure if Calypso will play a major role in the movie, but we’re ready to see how her relationship with the trophy hunter will unfold.
#6. The movie is R-rated, so we can expect more brutal fighting scenes to come.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
In the movie, Kraven can use his connection with animals to find his prey, for example calling wolves to attack, or looking through an eagle’s eyes view to track down his targets. He also has an unorthodox fighting style, which enables him to move and attack on all four like a true predator.
As expected from an R-rated movie, the battles shown in the trailer are quite gruesome, with Kraven not shying away from any method to finish his enemies off, such as using traps, shooting crossbows, or even biting his opponent’s nose clean off. The blood and gore scenes are shown explicitly, so you can expect more of them in the movie, which will be released this October.
#7. About Kraven’s official costume.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Along with the new trailer, Sony also released the official poster, which sees Kraven sitting on a throne made of antlers and human skulls, donning his comic-accurate outfit. The costume is shown briefly in the trailer, and we can expect it to appear in the final battle of the movie, maybe after the character has fully embraced his Hunter title.
#8. Peter Parker isn’t shown in the trailer, but…
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
As Kraven’s most prestigious prey, many people expect Spider-Man to appear in the trailer of the movie, but it didn’t happen. However, there is a big hint about how the Wall Crawler will clash with the villain in the future as shown in the trailer. In the middle of the video, we can see Kraven being surrounded by hundreds of spiders hanging from the tree, wearing an astonished and terrified face. This very scene might be the reason why Kraven is so obsessed with spiders, and might contribute greatly to his drive to hunt down Spider-Man in future endeavors.
Besides, while not having a major role in the movie, we can still expect Peter Parker to return in a mid-credit scene of the movie to hint at the next Spider-Man movie, and how he and Kraven will clash in the future.
What do you think about Kraven’s new trailer? Will Spider-Man appear in the movie? Share your theories in the comment section.