If you’re a “Spider-Man” fan and you hear the recent news that Sony is moving ahead with a spin-off film based on Kraven the Hunter, you can’t help but feel disappointed. Unlike “Venom,” “Nightwatch,” “Morbius the Living Vampire,” or “Silver & Black,” Kraven is a character who feels completely useless without Peter Parker.
But alas, according to Collider, Sony is moving ahead on their “Kraven the Hunter” film and have hired writer Richard Wenk to figure out the question, “What does Kraven the Hunter hunt if he can’t hunt Spider-Man?” Wenk is probably best known for his work on a variety of Antoine Fuqua movies including the ‘Equalizer’ series and “The Magnificent Seven.” However, he’s also written “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” and “The Expendables 2,” so Wenk is clearly an action guy. And those action credits will come in handy on ‘Kraven.’
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For those not familiar with the character, Kraven the Hunter is a Spider-Man villain and big game hunter, who comes in conflict with the wallcrawler after he deems the hero his next big hunt. In the comics, he’s been one of the classic antagonists for Spider-Man, appearing in a number of storylines throughout the decades. Most notably, the character appeared in the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline, which is one of the most iconic “Spider-Man” stories of all time, and shows just how intertwined the characters are.
In the storyline, Kraven hunts and seemingly kills Spider-Man. With his victory, Kraven dons the Spider-Man costume and begins to prove he is better than Spider-Man at doing the whole superhero thing. After it’s revealed that Spidey isn’t dead (shocker!), Kraven and Spidey team up to defeat a villain named Vermin. Happy with his actions, Kraven decides there’s no place to go now and commits suicide.
But again, the big question with any “Kraven the Hunter” film is what the hunt will be? Without Spider-Man, will he hunt Venom? Will he hunt some other random hero character, and will that have the same impact? His origins and mission rely so heavily on Spider-Man, it seems impossible to do the character justice without the webslinger.
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And how do we know Spider-Man won’t show up in the film? Well, in a recent EW article (pre-San Diego Comic-Con), it was revealed that this Sony Spider-Verse exists outside the world of the MCU and is NOT part of the Disney/Sony deal. So sadly, no Tom Holland.
The future of a “Kraven the Hunter” film, or any “Spider-Man” spin-off film, is likely going to be tied to the success or failure of the upcoming “Venom.” Because if that film does poorly, then you can expect the ‘Kraven’ film to go away, as Venom would say, “like a turd in the wind.”