More than a year ago we learned of Sony’s plans to expand their Spider-Man franchise even further with a film centered on villain Kraven the Hunter. It was an unusual piece of news because Kraven is so closely-tied to Spidey that he almost becomes pointless without him, and we know the hero is currently tied up at Marvel Studios. But Sony is indeed moving forward, hiring The Equalizer 2 writer Richard Wenk to pen Kraven’s first big screen adventure.
Kraven the Hunter aka Sergei Kravinoff is one of Spider-Man’s most well-known enemies, and featured in the classic Kraven’s Last Hunt storyline. He’s a big game hunter who considers Spider-Man his ultimate prey. He’s also the half-brother to villain the Chameleon, as well as a member of the Sinister Six. In Kravens’ Last Hunt he finds and defeats Spider-Man, seemingly killing and burying the hero. He then dons his own Spider-Man costume and sets out to prove he is the superior crime-fighter. When Spider-Man recovers and they team up to defeat another Marvel villain, Kraven figures he’s done all there is to do and commits suicide. Because this is comics, he’s later resurrected and is still around the Marvel Universe to the best of my knowledge. Kraven also had a rack of kids who are following in daddy’s footsteps.
Wenk is going to have to figure out what purpose a character like Kraven has without Spider-Man around. He’s not like Venom who has supporting characters and a world of his own to exist in. Does Kraven find a different hero to stalk? Or does Kraven himself become the hero? [Collider]
