Sony has officially announced the rating for its next Spider-Man Universe movie Kraven the Hunter. While fans of the character might not be surprised, Marvel fans who are more familiar with the Spider-Man movies will be in for quite a shock.
Kraven the Hunter is one of Spider-Man's longest-standing enemies. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Kraven first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15. In the comics, Kraven gains superhuman abilities by ingesting a potion containing multiple mysterious jungle herbs. This potion grants Kraven enhanced sight, hearing, and smell, making him as capable and deadly a tracker as many of the animal kingdom's predators. Even before ingesting the potion, Kraven was an accomplished hunter, tactician, and athlete. He's also known for his incredible hand-to-hand combat skills, specifically his ability to target pressure points on humans and animals. This knowledge allows him to incapacitate foes he might otherwise struggle against.
During a panel at CinemaCon, Sony Pictures played a pre-recorded message that featured Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who will star as Kraven the Hunter. In the message, Taylor-Johnson announced that Kraven the Hunter will be R-rated, making clear that the upcoming movie is, "a Marvel movie grounded heavily in the real world." To the joy of Kraven fans, he added, "F*ck yes it's rated R!" This statement falls in line with the trailer released at CinemaCon, which promises plenty of violence and a more serious tone than most Spider-Man movies have had.
The rating makes sense for the character the movie revolves around. Kraven the Hunter is known for being a dark character who goes to dark places; one comic storyline called "Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt" follows Kraven's quest for death as he reaches old age and loses the abilities he's relied on for most of his career. On his journey, he captures Spider-Man and buries him alive, impersonates Spider-Man, and eventually ends his own life after confessing to all of his crimes. Two later storylines called "The Gauntlet" and "Grim Hunt" see Kraven the Hunter resurrected. The blood ritual that resurrected him turns him into a psychopath, and his relationship with his loved ones turns cold and violent. He's eventually killed again at the hands of Kaine Parker.
While specific details about Kraven the Hunter are still unknown, it sounds like director J. C. Chandor and writers Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk leaned into the darkness that's at the center of Kraven's character. Depending on how dark Sony intended to go with this movie, they could have followed a plot similar to the infamously dark storyline "Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt." Although killing off the title character in the first movie to introduce him would be a strange move from Sony, it would fit well with Kraven's history. Besides, Kraven doesn't like to stay dead. Between the comics and the current state of the multiverse, Sony could take multiple avenues to revive the character if he dies in the upcoming movie, all of which provide plenty of room for more grit, violence, and cruelty.
Kraven the Hunter releases in theaters on October 6, 2023.
Source: The Direct