‘Kraven the Hunter’ Will Be Sony’s First R-rated Marvel Movie; New Guest Character Confirmed

While superhero fans are expecting movie blockbusters from Marvel and DC Studios this year; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Flash, The Marvels, and Aquaman 2; Sony Pictures also has one candidate for this year. After receiving mixed to negative responses three times in a row; Venom, Venom: Let There be Carnage, and Morbius; this might be Sony’s last chance to finally deliver a decent spectacle of the genre with their anti-hero-based movies.

Kraven the Hunter is now set to make his big screen debut in the homonymous movie set in Sony’s Spider-Man universe. At Sony’s recent presentation at CinemaCon, it was confirmed that Kraven the Hunter will be the first R-rated movie set in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

Also, the movie will have a guest star in the form of Rhino, a known supervillain who we’ve already seen in live-action in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where Paul Giamatti played him. The official teaser for Kraven the Hunter was released exclusively at CinemaCon, but the wider audience won’t get the first official trailer before Summer.

Kraven the Hunter is one of the Spider-Man-related characters that can work as both ant-hero and villain. Avengers: Age of Ultron star Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast as Kraven in 2021. The movie will also star Ariana DeBose as Calypso and Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon. Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, Russell Crowe, and Levi Miller are also set to star in undisclosed roles.

Despite mixed critical reception, both Venom movies were commercially successful, which ensured the development of the third movie. Morbius, on the hand, not only received negative reviews but was also a box-office bomb (even after re-releasing it in theaters), so we’re not expecting a sequel despite the movie’s ending and post-credit scene.

Kraven the Hunter is now a chance for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe to deliver some good stuff, and it looks like it took three PG-13 movies to realize that anti-heroes like Venom, Morbius, and Kraven work better with R-rating. We can only hope they will figure out the same with Venom 3. Sony is also developing Madame Web and El Muerto movies, which will also be set in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Both movies are set to arrive next year, although El Muerto is reportedly experiencing some delays in pre-production.

Directed by J. C. Chandor, Kraven the Hunter is set to be released on October 6, 2023.

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