Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Kraven the HunterKraven the Hunter, also known as Sergei Kravinoff, comes straight from Marvel Comics and into live-action for the first time in Sony's first R-rated Marvel movie. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular hunter and directed by J. C. Chandor, who helms the film after impressive turns like Margin Call and A Most Violent Year, Kraven the Hunter puts the villain into an implied anti-hero position, which isn't entirely unheard of for his comic book counterpart. Many members of Marvel's rogues' gallery have their noble moments, but this live-action iteration of Kraven feels almost like a superhero through and through. From the film's trailers, it was difficult to gauge whether Sony's latest venture would stick closely to Kraven's comic origins. It seemed as if this version of Kraven acquired his power after suffering the bite of a lion, the subsequent wound becoming contaminated by the lion's blood — a major deviation from the source material.
Thankfully, the trailers misled us a bit. A lion bite is involved, but the root of his power has a similar origin to the Kraven of the comics. It's natural to approach each new undertaking in this cinematic universe with a healthy dose of apprehension. After two attempts at a Spider-Man franchise, Sony restarted again (no Spidey this time) with 2018's Venom, which has since become a trilogy. Morbius and Madame Web continued Sony's track record of tackling Spider-Man characters while feeling nothing like their Marvel Comics counterparts. So, did they finally break the mold? Let's break down how loyal Kraven the Hunter is to its history.
How Does Kraven the Hunter Get His Powers in Marvel Comics?
Image via Sony
The movie keeps at least some close ties to Kraven's comic origins. First appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man #15, Kraven is the half-brother of The Chameleon, a master of disguise and fellow Spidey villain, and the son of Nikolai Kravinoff, a Russian aristocrat. Kraven is a renowned big-game hunter, top-of-the-line, and a master of weaponry. His superhuman abilities — strength, speed, and predator-like senses — come from an array of herbal potions, which he first acquired by meeting a witch doctor named Calypso. There was no lion bite involved. Comrade and lover to Kraven the Hunter in his titular debut, the voodoo priestess Calypso is portrayed by Academy Award winner Ariana Debose in the film. Once he's at the top of his game, Kraven's ultimate goal is to prove he's the world's greatest hunter by hunting and defeating Spider-Man.
How Much Does 'Kraven the Hunter' Change the Villain's Origin Story?
The most glaring change from the comics made by Kraven the Hunter is Kraven's overall demeanor and status as a moral, heroic figure. That's not a surprising shift; all of Sony's Marvel outings with a Spider-Man villain in a titular role have had to mold the characters into, at the very least, an anti-hero worth cheering on. However, this version of Sergei / Kraven is an outright good guy. He still kills people, to be sure, but he only targets the worst of the worst. Like the comics, Sergei Kravinoff and his younger half-brother, Dimitri (Fred Hechinger), are raised by their vindictive and brutal crime-lord father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Their family is incredibly wealthy and has a history as big game hunters, but, aside from some visual cues, the similarities with Marvel Comics almost entirely end there.
When he was a young boy, Sergei was attacked by a behemoth of a lion while attempting to protect his brother during a hunting expedition in Africa. For a moment, it looked like Sergei and the lion formed a connection through eye contact. It was as if they understood each other and could peacefully part ways, but their father broke the fragile truce by shooting the lion, causing it to lunge at the boys and viciously attack Sergei before carrying him away. Calypso (at this point a young girl and stranger to Sergei) happens upon him, unconscious in some brush. The lion sees Calypso and chooses to walk away, but not before a drop of the lion's blood falls into one of Sergei's open wounds. Sensing she could help him, she pours a mysterious potion into Sergei's mouth. So, like the comics, the potion that gives Kraven his powers does originally come from Calypso, but the Calypso in the film is by no means a voodoo priestess. She was gifted the potion by her grandmother, whom she refers to as "a mystic." Sergei is airlifted to a hospital where he is dead for three minutes before the power of the potion reawakens him.
Any final surprise for Aaron Taylor-Johnson's anti-hero?
When he becomes aware of his heightened abilities (which, in the movie, includes some sort of lion-vision), Sergei leaves his father and begins a life alone. He resents his father's ruthlessness and his criminal ways. When he was young, his father sent his mother away, and she eventually took her own life (according to Nikolai, at least). Nikolai considered his mother weak for having fear and tried to mold his children into fearless killers. Attempting to be nothing like his father, Sergei spends his life as Kraven the Hunter, preying on criminals and cruel men around the world.
Where Does Sony's Spider-Verse Go From Here?
Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man does not show up in Kraven's first cinematic outing. For the character's integrity, it's probably best that Spidey sits these movies out. Narrative-wise, however, it's baffling that Sony's Spider-Verse has gone on without a Peter Parker for so long. If Sony wanted to include Spider-Man, it could be any of them —Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or Tom Holland. With the multiverse pried open, thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, it wouldn't take much setup to explain away a little nonsense. For the sake of musing, if Kraven the Hunter were to have worked a surprise Spider-Man into the mix, Andrew Garfield would've made the most sense. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 left so much untapped story by the wayside, but No Way Home gave what's likely the only morsel of closure we'll get.
So, like his predecessors in the array of Sony Spider-Man-villain-solo-stints, Kraven operates without a Spider-Man. This, like it was with Venom and the rest, is disappointing. Despite its faults, Tom Hardy's run as Eddie Brock / Venom was undeniably entertaining with its fair share of high points. His first film dominated the box office and offered a semblance of hope, but the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, proved how little fuel this vehicle had. The third and final in the trilogy, Venom: The Last Dance, ended its theatrical run without having surpassed either of its predecessors. Still, there's at least something to enjoy in each of Venom's movies. And the Jared Leto venture, Morbius ... is a movie.
All of them feel barren without the wall-crawler in their films. We started with Venom and Morbius. Then Dakota Johnson had her turn as Madame Web, based on the multiverse-inhabiting Spider-Man side-character who generally guides Spidey in his misadventures across new realms. Madame Web, however, did not have a Spider-Man, opting to incomprehensibly usher in Ezekiel Sims, a younger version of Uncle Ben (Adam Scott), and a trio of backburnered Spider-Women. Sony has been relentless in its pursuit. Now Kraven is here, introduced alongside The Rhino (Alessandro Nivola) and The Chameleon, and through a twist of nonsensical hand-waving, Michael Keaton's Vulture has somehow entered the mix, crossing from the MCU into the Sony-Verse after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. A Sinister Six movie, based on an infamous collective of Spider-Man foes, has been rumored, greenlit, and delayed for eons. Eventually, someone has to call time of death on Sony's sans-Spider-Man franchise.
Kraven the Hunter is in theaters now across the U.S.
Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.
Image by Jefferson Chacon
Image via Sony 
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