Fans of big media franchises don't always know what they want. When one of their favorite characters hits the screen wrong, they might suggest a solution, but they won't often see the problem. When something is as obviously troubled as Sony's Spider-Man Universe, everyone has a take on how to fix it. Kraven the Hunter might be the first example of Sony incorporating some lessons learned.
Marvel and Sony have suffered in the ongoing legal battle for ownership of Spider-Man. Aside from the Spider-Verse films, every attempt made by Sony to utilize Peter Parker has been an unmitigated disaster. Since IP ownership is the bane of artistic expression, Sony will continue to slap their action figures together until they produce a project successful enough to build a cinematic universe.
Kraven the Hunter looks like what the SSU should be
Whatever people say about the Kraven the Hunter trailer, it doesn't look like a Marvel movie. It barely looks like a superhero movie. It's closer to any other R-rated action movie. More reminiscent of Hard Target than anything in Marvel's catalog. It certainly doesn't look anything like the other three films in the SSU. Deviating from the current glut of superhero movies is an obviously good decision. Not to suggest that Sony should simply abandon the genre it's ostensibly aiming to succeed in, but it has failed at every turn. Instead, the film seems to be reaching toward an unusual virtue. Kraven kind of looks like a film that mirrors the character it's named after.
Many have tried to ape the success of Marvel's cinematic universe model. Every competitor has failed miserably. The problem is obvious to most fans. The model is easy and should be replicable by any competent studio. Here's the secret; make three to five good movies about likable characters, seed crossover details throughout, abandon any projects that don't work, then make a team-up movie after the roster is established. The reason Warner Bros., Sony, and Universal all have multiple disinterred corpses in place of their universes is that they don't have patience. They're tripping over themselves to get to the big payday at the end of the project. They can't just make good art, get people invested, and reap the rewards they've sewn. That amount of investment doesn't look good enough on the balance sheet. Derision, mockery, and financial devastation are their rewards.
The first three SSU films went wrong
The moviegoing public must remember Morbius. Don't let this one slip into the blind spots of the cultural memory. Keep making memes about it. Keep saying "It's Morbin' time." Tell children about the time Sony brought a film to theaters twice, only to flop again. After the modest failure of both Venom movies, Sony was confident enough to bring Michael Morbius, a character few fans had ever heard of, to the big screen. As everyone knows, Morbius is a dull, repetitive, unoriginal disaster with an uncharismatic jerk in the lead role and several unintentionally hilarious scenes. The Venom films failed outright to capture what people love about the character. Morbius focused on a character no one loved. Kraven might be able to accomplish the mildly impressive feat of making a mildly-lovable figure into something special.
Will Sony learn its lesson?
Iron Man, Peacemaker, and Guardians of the Galaxy were all success stories based around characters that were not big names before this spotlight. Movies and TV shows are often the mainstream non-comic-reading public's first real introduction to the characters comic fans love. Kraven the Hunter isn't anyone's favorite character, but a movie that captures his best traits can change that. Venom was made to profit off of the name fans demand every time Spider-Man gets a new cinematic series. Morbius was a butchered attempt to profit from a semi-profitable star. Kraven can defy expectations by doing what Iron Man, Peacemaker, or Guardians of the Galaxy did. Creators who loved those characters, actors who understood them, and fans who knew them well banded together to make those projects iconic. Standards don't have to be as high as any of those, but if Kraven delivers a serviceable action film that makes fans want more of the big-game hunter, they'll have a piece of what they've always wanted.
It remains to be seen how much of Kraven is given over to tortured franchise maintenance. It would be naive to assume the film will stand completely on its own. Even if the film pulls down a buffet of mediocre review scores. Even if it's not as good as Marvel's worst offering. Even if most fans don't care enough to show up to the theater. If Kraven accomplishes the simple feat of being a good movie about the character it's named after, it'll be a massive leap forward for the SSU. If it's actually a good movie, fans will have this conversation again next year as they prepare the next minor figure for their close-up.