Kraven The Hunter. Image from Sony Pictures Releasing and Marvel Entertainment
The origin story of Kraven The Hunter is what is going to happen here and I do not think that should come as a surprise as to why he got a solo movie since he is probably the second most legendary deceased enemy of Spider-Man behind the Green Goblin. Aside from the Green Goblin, it is Kraven The Hunter who has left such a resounding nostalgic impact on comic book readers because of the threat he posed to Spider-Man.
It is also worth noting that Spider-Man respected the hunting prowess, intelligence, and beast-like nature that Kraven possessed; in fact, Kraven is one of the few enemies that Spider-Man regretted had passed away, given that if Kraven had been on the side of good, he would have been a powerful ally to have in his fights with other dangerous foes years later. In some respects, if you had gotten to read the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man after the passing of Kraven The Hunter, there were some dangerous scenarios that Spider-Man was able to get himself out of due to the battles he had had with Kraven and the wisdom he gained out of those. In reality, Kraven The Hunter considered Spider-Man to be his greatest foe, and the mutual respect was there.
Now, as a decades-long comic book reader and collector, here are my own memories of the legendary supervillain Kraven The Hunter. I first remember seeing him in one of the 30th anniversary issues of The Amazing Spider-Man when I was a child, and in fact, I still have the said comic book issue. It was one of the stories featured there, and it was with the accomplice of Kraven The Hunter in The Chameleon but by then Kraven The Hunter had been long dead, and it was shown that The Chameleon was morphing into Kraven The Hunter since his ability was being able to mimic the appearance of anyone he wanted.
Also, I remember having a trading card of him from the Fleer Series 2 base set of Marvel. Plus, of course, I include his appearances in the Spider-Man animated cartoon. Those are my only memories of Kraven The Hunter growing up. I never got to read the issues when he was still alive in their first original run from decades ago because they were before my time. And so, this connects to the movie as being the perfect way to introduce Kraven The Hunter to the current generation because this is a chance to tell his origin, story, and beginnings right.
Which further reminds me that by all accounts this is going to be a very good movie if nothing else. From what I can tell in the official trailer, it is going to be treated as a stand-alone movie and not interconnected, tied in, or loosely being a sequel or offshoot of any previous movie out now under the MCU. It is going to be all about Kraven The Hunter and how he became who he is.
I am also reminded when it comes to the official trailer that this is going to be a serious movie, potentially with an over PG-13 rating. Not goofy, not wacky, not crazy, not kiddy, and most of all, not a disrespectful take on Kraven The Hunter.
Let us all take a moment to be honest with ourselves and admit at this point that we are all getting tired of seeing beloved Spider-Man villains become parodies of themselves or are so far from their comic book original selves, which I believe is the reason why so many have stopped watching any of the previously released movies. However, with Kraven The Hunter, it has helped not only return some interest but also some hope that they will get this movie right this time and not fail to meet the moderate expectations for it.
I like what I am seeing here because first of all the casting of Aaron Taylor-Johnson was the right choice to portray Kraven; he does have that aesthetic, presence, and appearance about him that would convince you that he is indeed Kraven, although a slightly younger version of him, which is always the better route to go if you want him to portray Kraven for years to come by the same actor. Secondly, thank God, the studio did not race, or gender-swap, him. There alone, it is getting my hopes up for this because it is not appearing to be woke of any sort.
I can also see that in his solo movie Kraven The Hunter is using an animal-superhuman ability that is similar to that of echolocation or something close to it but far more superior in that he would use that ability to track and hunt down his prey from a limited distance. I can compare it to being able to have a virtual map of where his subject is in his mind and then pin it down using the heightened senses (enhanced vision, smell and hearing) that he possesses combined with his above average strength, stamina, agility, durability and speed. It is quite impressive to see all of these things come to life in the official trailer.
All in all, the official trailer of Kraven The Hunter really does bring back memories for me of the Marvel style of movies that came out before 2008. I am getting Blade, Daredevil, and Elektra vibes from it and that is a good thing if you are after something worth your time. It feels like it could have belonged at the time which is a plus and something that I am sure has gotten the attention of a lot of other people who are aware of the history of the pre-beginnings of what the MCU would become one day.
I believe there is a serious intention here to give the moviegoers a well-crafted origin story of Kraven The Hunter that respects the comic books to begin with where Kraven The Hunter first appeared. This is praiseworthy that the filmmakers have finally realized comic book accuracy is so important to do because the movies that did not respect the lore have flopped or underperformed in the box office.
And before I forget, I saw it as everyone else has, for sure. Yeah, Rhino is going to be a big part of this movie and the thought of the two of them going to do battle is worth the price of a ticket alone. And this is not going to be the mechanical version of Rhino but the real one, the comic-book-based version of him, and with Kraven The Hunter and Rhino, it is going to be a more visceral, realistic, and comic-book-based movie that has been released in some time.
By all means, let us all watch Kraven The Hunter when it gets released in cinemas.