Kraven the Hunter: Everything we learned during NYCC

New York Comic Con is finally here, which means nothing but breaking news about our favorite characters. The wall-crawler took the spotlight at first with the reveal of a PC port of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and the confirmation that no DLC will be released for the game. After that, it was finally time for the villains to enter the scene and shock us all. Kraven the Hunter had a huge presence on Sony's panel, so it's time to break down everything we learned about the highly-anticipated movie.

The opening of the film was showcased and it's brutal

Two Kraven The Hunter sequences were showcased to members of the audience at New York Comic Con. One of them consisted of the seven opening minutes of the movie, and the other was an action scene that takes place at a later point. While the footage was exclusive to the event (meaning it won't make its way online), we have some descriptions of what was shown, and it sounds brutal.

As reported by Comic Book Club, the opening sees Kraven go on a human hunt in a Russian prison:

"After getting checked in, he tells his new cellmate he’ll be there for three days. But the next day, after a fight (that he wins) in the prison yard by showing off a little super-strength, he gets called into the boss of a prison. The boss is a bad guy who sells weapons that kill women and children. So Kraven rips the tooth out of a tiger rug, kills two men, and then stabs the boss’s neck multiple times. Then Kraven escapes from the prison, jumping off towers and up walls, ripping open steel with his bare hands, then running into the snowy wasteland to safety."

As if that wasn't promising enough, a lot of members of the audience seemed impressed by what they watched:

The second sequence shows Kraven taking down a bunch of bad guys with many traps and weapons (just like any good hunter). Internet reporter Brandon Davis says there's a scene where one of the mercenaries even gets ripped in half:

"I just saw a dude get split in half by a tree stump, a murder with a bear trap, several heads split by an ax, and a spiky tree swing down to impale a man - and more. It’s violent and vicious."

As expected, reactions to this blood-filled action sequence were also extremely positive:

Director J. C. Chandor describes Kraven The Hunter as "an old school gangster film but with a Marvel twist". Furthermore, he also revealed the movie starts with a young Kraven who wants to be nothing like his dad. However, as time goes by, audiences might get to see a lot of similitudes between the two. All signs indicate Kraven: The Hunter will be a relentless, action-packed movie that is looking to do justice to Marvel characters. Speaking of which...

Other Marvel characters were teased

Audiences will finally see the big screen debut of Sergei Kravinoff in December. However, he's not the only Marvel character to appear in the movie, as confirmed by director J. C. Chandor:

"We built some set pieces and some action pieces that I’m super proud of…it’s not just Kraven. We’ve got the opportunity to really dive into the Marvel characters here."

-  J. C. Chandor

While it's easy to immediately think about Spider-Man with this statement, chances are he's talking about Alexei Sytsevich, better known as the Rhino. Trailers confirmed he'll inject himself with a serum that will turn him into a huge monstrous creature (no tech suits, this time around). Furthermore, it's important to remember that Kraven's brother, the Chamelion, will also have a role to play in the movie. At this point, it's unclear if we'll get to witness his impressive abilities to disguise himself as anyone he desires. However, it's exciting to know Spider-Man's first supervillain will finally appear in a live-action project (even if the wall-crawler himself doesn't show up).

Aaron Taylor-Johnson says Kraven is a hunter, not a poacher

Aaron Taylor-Johnson also took on the stage to talk about his character and how he's a straight-up supervillain, rather than some sort of protector:

"It’s always interesting playing a villain. It comes with a lot of depth and complexity (...) Like all hunters, Kraven respects his prey and the natural order (...) He’s an apex predator on the top of the food chain. Kraven’s a hunter, not a poacher. Like every hunter knows, sometimes you have to cull the herd to preserve order. Of course, when he starts applying that to human beings, it becomes a pretty dark story."

- Aaron Taylor-Johnson

The panel, which was 30 minutes long, concluded with Aaron Taylor-Johnson taking a group picture with Kraven cosplayers. So overall, it seems the movie is shaping up to be something pretty special, dark, and really violent. Are you excited to watch the next entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe? Let us know on our social media pages! And stick around with Whatever A Spider Can for everything Spider-Man-related.

Kraven The Hunter will be released on December 13, 2024