Sony Reveals Bloody, R-Rated “Kraven the Hunter” Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Spider-Man Villain
Venom and Morbius are about to get some company.
Sony Pictures revealed the first peek at Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter at their CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas for theater owners. Taylor-Johnson introduced the first look himself via video, including the fact that Kraven will be the first R-rated feature that Sony has produced for their Marvel properties.
The film comes from director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier), based on a script by Matt Holloway, Art Marcum, and Richard Wenk.
The footage revealed Kraven releasing his inner beast on a caravan of poachers, even biting off a chunk of one of them. The sneak peek also unveiled another classic Spidey villain, the Rhino, to be played here by Alessandro Nivola (Paul Giamatti played the Rhino in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Nivola spoke about the mystery role (until now) to The Hollywood Reporter last year:
“I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie, so it’s just a classic villain role,” Nivola said. “It had a really interesting, complex psychology and personal history to draw on, and the movie has a time jump in it, so the character changes a lot from the way he is in the beginning of the film. It was as much of an acting opportunity as any other film I’ve done.”
Kraven the Hunter was created by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko back in 1964, first appearing that year in “The Amazing Spider-Man No. 15.” Kraven is a big game hunter who famously, in an iconic storyline in 1980’s “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” buried Spider-Man alive and assumed his identity. When Sony announced that Taylor-Johnson would be playing the Spider-Man villain, they made it a point to reveal the deal was for multiple films. It won’t be the first time Taylor-Johnson has had a role in a Marvel movie—he played Quicksilver in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron—but this will be his first starring role in a Sony/Marvel film. He was dynamite acting across Brian Tyree Henry and Brad Pitt in David Leitch’s 2022 action thriller Bullet Train.
Kraven the Hunter will join Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius as the fourth film featuring a Spider-Man villain in Sony’s growing Spider-Man Universe. The third Venom film and a new feature, Madame Web, are on the way as well.
Taylor-Johnson and Nivola are joined by Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Christopher Abbott, and Fred Hechinger. Kraven the Hunter is set to hit theaters on October 6.
For more upcoming films from Sony Pictures, check out these stories:
Juno Temple Circling “Venom 3” Role Alongside Tom Hardy
New “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” Teaser Finds Miles Morales in a Sticky Situation
“The Pope’s Exorcist” Finds Russell Crowe as the Vatican’s Demon Slayer
Featured image: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 01: Aaron Taylor-Johnson attends the Los Angeles premiere of Columbia Pictures’ “Bullet Train” at Regency Village Theatre on August 01, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
