Kraven The Hunter’s Cursed History Of Wasted Movie Opportunities

Summary

• Kraven the Hunter’s standalone film flopped at the box office, ending Sony’s Spider-Man universe on a sour note.
• Director Sam Raimi had plans to introduce Kraven in Spider-Man 4, but the film was never made.
• Despite potential MCU appearances, Kraven’s future seems uncertain after the failure of his standalone movie.

Kraven the Hunter may be one of Spider-Man’s feared enemies in Marvel Comics, but the supervillain’s worst nightmare seems to be finding his place in a good live-action film. The character’s recent standalone movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson was the final nail in the coffin for Sony’s Spider-Man universe, which takes us back to a long list of missed opportunities for his big-screen debut in the past.

It took several years of delays and other hurdles for Sony to release Kraven the Hunter. Still, the film turned out to be an abysmal box office flop. Reviews haven’t been kind either, with comparisons to Morbius and Madame Web. This sad state of affairs gets worse upon the realization that the Marvel Comics villain was originally meant to feature in much bigger, vastly successful superhero films.

Kraven As A Villain In Spider-Man 4

Sam Raimi’s Plans For Kraven The Hunter

Director Sam Raimi’s fourth Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire never saw the light of day, and fans will continue to rue this missed chance for more reasons than one. One of those reasons was the tentative inclusion of Kraven the Hunter in the film. Raimi himself confirmed his plans in an interview with Rolling Stone back when he was promoting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Had Sergei Kravinoff been part of Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, he would have joined the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Sandman as not just another memorable Spider-Man villain, but also a pop culture phenomenon celebrated for ages.

I missed Kraven the Hunter. We were going to work that character into the next Spider-Man; I always wanted to see Kraven fight Spider-Man on the big screen. I thought that would be really unique. He’s the ultimate hunter, and Spider-Man is like the most agile trickster of the skies.

Kraven The Hunter In The Amazing Spider-Man Films

The Sinister Six Introduction

After Spider-Man 4 was shelved, The Amazing Spider-Man films came into the picture, and Kraven the Hunter had an opportunity to be part of this reboot as well. Before the release of the second film, Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment announced a collective shared universe of movies focused on Spidey villains like Venom and the Sinister Six. As one of the founding members of the Sinister Six, Kraven’s presence in this sequel was inevitable, as confirmed by The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb in a 2017 interview with ComicBook.com.

Kraven. I like the idea of Kraven. The Vulture. Ock. I always thought the idea of Mysterio was interesting. Maybe Scorpion. But really, Kraven I think is kind of interesting.

In fact, the ending of TASM hinted at the formation of the Sinister Six with Harry Osborn (Green Goblin), Aleksei Sytsevich (Rhino), and Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman). But unfortunately, Andrew Garfield’s version of the web-slinger couldn’t get past two films. That’s when the franchise’s plans split into two.

Kraven The Hunter In The MCU

Sony-Marvel Corporate Plans

Spider-Man joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, announced by Tom Holland’s arrival. Sony started its own Spider-Man universe with films like Tom Hardy’s Venom. This corporate synergy between Sony and Marvel hinted that their villains, including Kraven the Hunter, would make their way into the MCU at some point in the future.

Kraven’s Unlikely Debut In Black Panther

Furthermore, Kraven’s MCU debut almost came in an unlikely non-Spider-Man film. Black Panther‘s director Ryan Coogler originally had plans to include Kraven in the 2018 film. Serious Black Panther fans would be familiar with Christopher Priest’s comic run, which had an exciting fight between the Spider-Man villain and the Wakandan hero. Unfortunately, Coogler couldn’t bring Kraven into his film, either due to a conflict of rights with Sony or perhaps because Marvel had plans to introduce him in a Tom Holland Spider-Man film later on.

No Way Home Was Almost A Kraven Film

Some Spidey fans would also be surprised to find out that Spider-Man: No Way Home was originally meant to be just a film pitting Peter Parker against Kraven the Hunter. After Vulture in Homecoming and Mysterio in Far From Home, it makes sense why director John Watts wanted to go with a heavyweight supervillain like Kraven for the third MCU Spider-Man film.

But again, this turned into yet another missed opportunity for Kraven, as the plans were dropped since Sony was already developing a standalone film for the villain. But it goes without saying that Kevin Feige wouldn’t be ruining this missed opportunity, considering the success of No Way Home and how the nostalgic reunion of older Spidey villains played a big part in it.

Kraven The Hunter’s Future In The SSU

Death Of The Sony Spider-Man Universe?

Fast forward to a few years later, and the Sony Spider-Man universe is now practically dead. Kraven the Hunter opened to terrible reviews and audience reception earlier this month. This follows previous hurdles like several release date pushes, the SAG-AFTRA strike, the disasters of Morbius and Madame Web, and a general lack of interest due to all of this combined. However, Sony and director J.C. Chandor seemed positive that Kraven the Hunter might just surprise the audience and at least deliver in terms of quality close to the Venom films.

Plans For A Second Kraven Film

But this clearly isn’t the case, as seen from the poor $11.8 million domestic opening and a terrible 14 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Had it not been for such bad results, Kraven the Hunter might have just gotten another film where he faced off against Spider-Man. According to director J.C. Chandor, this would have been the second and final film with the character and is based on Kraven’s Last Hunt by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, and Bob McLeod.

Despite genuine interest from him, as well as Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who wanted a Sinister Six crossover film, it seems like the end of the road for the character. While it’s possible for the Sony Spider-Man universe to continue, some reports have confirmed that Kraven the Hunter will be the last non-Venom film in the franchise for now.