We’re less than seven months away from the latest spin-off of the Spidey-verse, Kraven the Hunter. Sony has yet to release the full synopsis of the upcoming feature, but the overall basis of the film is Sergei Kravinoff being on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. The trailer for the Aaron-Taylor Johnson-led film was just released and well…it was certainly interesting.
Sony has been on a mission to expand the Spideyverse going back as far as Spider-Man 3. They’ve managed to capture success from the Venom spin-offs, and the animated Miles Morales films have helped boost the overall brand. However, critically, Sony’s attempts have been more hit than miss. Morbius and Madame Web are the most obvious failures of the company’s latest experiment in focusing on Spider-Man’s top villains in the comics.
With the knowledge of the films that Sony has made thus far, it’s become obvious the mistakes that the company should avoid. Kraven The Hunter could be a great spin-off film if done correctly. The character does have a rich lore in the comics and doesn’t necessarily have to rely on Spider-Man to truly exist.
Kraven Can’t Be An Anti-Hero
Based on the trailers, Kraven comes off as an anti-hero. This is easily the biggest problem with spin-offs like Venom and Morbius. Sony continues to showcase these villains as anti-heroes with no relation to Spider-Man whatsoever. Venom NEEDS Spider-Man. That’s essentially how he became the villainous character in the first place. Though that franchise is doing great financially, it truly fails to capture the strong character from the comics.
Same with Morbius. Without Spider-Man, he’s just a vampire. There’s nothing wrong with changing the origin story. In fact, there are compelling ways that these characters could’ve worked outside of the Spider-Man canon. The problem continues to be that Sony is crafting these villains as anti-heroes without a true purpose.
Films such as The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, and even Joker have highlighted that it’s possible to tell a story where the characters are the villains. The important thing about this is that we understand them. Sony seems too afraid to go all in on these characters being bad guys. Kraven has an obsession with hunting. It’s very well documented how dangerous that turns out to be. He’s not a man with an honorable sense of morals.
That’s where the focus should lie. His upbringing with his crime boss father and how he got his obsession to hunt. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case in the trailers. However, the trailers may be purposely misleading audiences.
His Purpose In The Spider-Man World
These worlds are supposed to be connected to Spider-Man, yet, they all feel separate because Tom Holland hasn’t made an appearance in any of the spin-offs. This is the biggest reason that Venom and Morbius feel worthless because there’s no end goal for these characters within the confines of the Spidey universe.
Andrew Garfield and Tobey McGuire still exist as the previous incarnations of the characters. Why not take advantage of this and bring them into one of these spin-offs? Kraven the Hunter’s purpose is to hunt and kill Spider-Man. It completely consumes his life and drains him each time he fails his mission. That’s the great complexity and nuance of the character that made him an iconic figure.
Sony needs to find out why audiences should care about this future Spider-Man villain. They can’t capitalize off the Spider-Man lore and not give viewers a reason why they should keep shelling out money to these spin-offs that don’t truly have much ties to the main Spider-Man.
Cheesy Superpowers
Another issue with the trailer: Kraven the Hunter has superpowers. In the comics, Kraven is a regular human being. However, with the help of various herbs and potions, he gains incredible strength and power. Unfortunately, Sony already gave him superpowers. Hopefully, it doesn’t come across as cheesy. There’s a way to twist his mythology that makes him more of an intriguing character. There’s potential for Kraven the Hunter to be a genuine good surprise that these Spidey spin-offs desperately need. Sony just needs to embrace what made Kraven such an iconic villain in the comics.
Follow Us
