You’d be right to have a little concern about the future of Sony’s plethora of ‘Spider-Man’ spinoff films after the monumental blunder that is “Morbius.” Hell, even though “Venom” and its sequel did great box office business, there are many that think those films are pretty terrible too. Basically, when Sony isn’t teaming up with Marvel Studios on ‘Spider-Man’ films, fans are a bit skeptical. And frankly, the words of Aaron Taylor-Johnson in regards to the upcoming “Kraven the Hunter” film aren’t helping matters.
At the recent CineEurope conference (via Variety), Sony brought out Aaron Taylor-Johnson to talk about his upcoming films “Bullet Train” and, of course, “Kraven the Hunter.” We’ll skip past his “Bullet Train” comments, as that film looks exactly like you expect it to look. However, when it came to ‘Kraven,’ the actor said some things that might leave ‘Spider-Man’ fans scratching their heads.
READ MORE: Sony Tries To Capitalize On ‘Morbius’ Meme Moment & Morbs It All Up
Taylor-Johnson began by describing Kraven as “one of Marvel’s most iconic, notorious anti-heroes — Spider Man’s number one rival.” Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, huh? Sure, he’s iconic, but the number one rival for Spidey? Not so much. Alas, the man is trying to sell a film, so we’ll give him a pass for perhaps embellishing a little.
But when it came to his description of Kraven’s personality, there is a bit of concern. He said that he was excited to take on the role because Kraven is “not an alien, or a wizard. He’s just a hunter, a human with conviction. An animal lover and a protector of the natural world. He’s a very, very cool character.”
He’s partially right, but also quite wrong. You see, Kraven the Hunter is a big game hunter who decides that his claim to fame will be to hunt and kill Spider-Man. So he makes it his mission to take his animal-murdering skills to New York City to take on Spidey. To say he’s an “animal lover and protector of the natural world” is a bit of a stretch. The man literally wears animal skins as clothing. To paint him as Kraven the Conservationist is worrying, to say the least.
READ MORE: Sam Raimi Says He Was Going To Introduce Kraven The Hunter In ‘Spider-Man 4’
But I guess this is what happens when you try to make a square peg fit in a round hole. Sony is so desperate to expand its ‘Spider-Man’ cinematic universe, the studio is trying to come up with all of these villain-based films where the villain is actually an anti-hero and not so bad after all. This leads to some softening around the edges of these characters and could lead to Kraven becoming more of a good, animal-loving, vegan and less of a man who takes pride in murdering animals and tries his best to put a bullet in Spider-Man.
There is one bit of good news, however. Taylor-Johnson proudly claims that “Kraven the Hunter” is a rare Marvel film that “is shot entirely on location.” So, here’s to little victories!
