Now that the first eight minutes of Kraven the Hunter are available to watch online for free, fans have spotted a fun Spider-Man Easter egg (H/T CinemaBlend).
In the clip, Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) infiltrates a prison to take out a mob boss, and his prison number is 0864. That’s not just any random number, though, it’s a fun nod to comic book history. The Amazing Spider-Man #15, which features the character’s first comic book appearance as one of Spidey’s adversaries, was published in August 1964.
Taylor-Johnson stars alongside a supporting cast that includes Ariana DeBose, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe. Per Sony, the film will be set “before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man” and will tell “the visceral story of how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be”.
Director J.C. Chandor has encouraged audiences to not be put off by the negative reception of other Sony Marvel fare like Madame Web and to give the movie a chance. “I don’t want to get too into the nitty-gritty of it, but here’s what I would say: for me as a filmmaker, my number one goal, especially, quite frankly, over the last couple of years where you guys are deep in this world… some of the fans out there, a lot of the fans, were upset with certain decisions and certain outcomes [of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe],” he recently told ComicBook.com.
“Then with other films, they’ve gone on to be tremendous successes. So there’s been a mixed success rate. People have got to give us a chance and come out and support this film, and literally try to wash away some of the other stuff that’s happened. Give our film a chance.”
Kraven the Hunter arrives in theaters on December 13. In the meantime, check out our guide to the rest of 2024’s biggest movie release dates.