Aaron Taylor-Johnson, star of Sony Pictures' upcoming Spider-Man spinoff film Kraven the Hunter, has assured fans that his version of the villain is the adaptation they've been waiting for.
While the actor couldn't confirm or deny any details surrounding the upcoming film, Taylor-Johnson went into further detail about his version of the character in an interview with ComicBook.com. "What I love about that character is that what is he humanizing is that he has flaws, right?" Taylor-Johnson said. "Kraven is a beautiful character. Sergei Kravinov is a beautiful character because it's someone who's really understanding themselves and has flaws. This is a character that was built ages ago and it's in a new time and era, but yeah, is he going to be the hunter that we all want to see? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely."
Taylor-Johnson also clarified previous comments he made about his character, wherein he described Kraven as an "animal lover and protector of the natural world," citing this as one of the main reasons he was attracted to the role in the first place. However, the actor admitted that his comments were taken a bit out of context. Taylor-Johnson told ComicBook.com that "conservationist" was probably a more "accurate" description of the anti-hero.
Kraven the Hunter has been in development for years, but in 2018 things began to progress after Richard Wenk was brought on to write the screenplay, with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway joining him later on. Another addition to Sony's Spider-Man villain universe, the spinoff is set to be directed by J.C. Chandor, who joined the project in 2020, with Taylor-Johnson as the lead character. However, it remains unclear how Kraven the Hunter will factor into Sony's larger Spider-Man universe.
"We don't really think of our 900 characters as the Spidey-verse," Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch said in 2021. "We have a Marvel universe. The volume of characters we have -- you know, wait until you see this next Venom. You don't miss Spider-Man... It'll be exciting if they do meet, right? There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it's getting a little more clear for people where we're headed and I think when No Way Home comes out, even more will be revealed."
Sony Pictures began its franchise of live-action Marvel spinoffs with films centered around Spider-Man villains, starting with 2018's Venom, with other installments including 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage, 2022's Morbius and the upcoming Madame Web. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Krave the Hunter made his Marvel Comics debut in Amazing Spider-Man #15 in 1964. A founding member of the Sinister Six, the character is perhaps best known for his 1987 arc "Kraven's Last Hunt" by J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Bob Sharen, Janet Jackson and Rick Parker.
Kraven the Hunter arrives in theaters on Jan. 13, 2023.
Source: ComicBook.com