Sony is desperate for a cinematic universe of recognizable characters. So desperate that they have resorted to handing out solo films to numerous Spider-Man villains like Venom and Morbius. Do solo films for these characters work? Yes, because they can exist without Spider-Man. But what about Kraven the Hunter? Yeah, it gets complicated.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson has just been cast as the maniacal hunter in Kraven the Hunter, an upcoming solo film focused on the Marvel Comics character.
Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to comic properties. He previously played Kick-Ass in the character’s titular 2010 film and was Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Despite fan hopes that Taylor-Johnson would be returning to the MCU as Quicksilver in future films, that looks like it will no longer be the case.
According to Sony’s press release, Kraven is “one of Marvel’s most iconic and notorious antiheroes, who has encountered Venom and Black Panther, among many others, as well as being one of Spider-Man’s best known and most formidable enemies.” So yeah, it looks like Sony is transforming Kraven into an anti-hero who will no doubt act as a hero with more questionable tactics for taking down the bad guy.
Addionally, The Wrap reports that Taylor-Johnson has signed a deal for multiple movies, but it’s unclear exactly how many. J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier) will direct from a script by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and Richard Wenk. And to show you how much confidence Sony has in the property, the studio has already dated it for release on January 13, 2023.
I have always wanted to see Spider-Man fight Kraven, but I can’t imagine Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the role. I’m especially confused on the casting when sources state that Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, John David Washington, and Adam Driver were all being courted for the role before Sony saw footage of Taylor-Johnson in the upcoming film Bullet Train. I mean Keanu Reeves sounds like a perfect fit for Kraven the Hunter and was actually some fans’ dream casting.
So is Kraven the Hunter going to be a part of the MCU or will he never fight Spider-Man? If its the latter then Sony continues to take off some of Spider-Man’s best villains to use in future Spider-Man films. It also deprives us of seeing what Feige would do with these characters. I would be 100% on board with a standalone film focused on the Kraven the Hunter, but throwing him into a universe with Venom and Morbius that is already half-baked does not make me excited.
Ugh, when will someone buy Sony and make the film rights to the Spider-Man catalogue revert back to Marvel? Please help put us out of our misery.
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