Kraven The Hunter Trailer: Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is On The Prowl

Symbiotes, living vampires — what's next for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, penguins? Well, no, that's another franchise, but the SSU is bringing Sergei Kravinoff, aka "Kraven the Hunter," to the big screen.

According to the notorious blabber-mouth Tom Holland, the Russian antihero nearly took on Holland's web-slinger in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," back when that movie's plot was still in flux. Now the character is set to make his big screen debut in the upcoming "Kraven" solo film, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson starring in what will be the "Kick-Ass" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" actor's latest comic book project.

Also on board? Ariana DeBose, hot off her Oscar win for "West Side Story," along with Christopher Abbott ("Girls"), Fred Hechinger ("The White Lotus"), Alessandro Nivola ("The Many Saints of Newark"), and Russell Crowe in his third superhero role after playing Jor-El in "Man of Steel" and Zeus in last year's "Thor: Love & Thunder." Behind the camera, "A Most Violent Year" and "Triple Frontier" filmmaker J.C. Chandor is directing from a screenplay by Matt Holloway and Art Marcum ("Iron Man," "Punisher: War Zone," "Uncharted"), as well as Richard Wenk ("The Equalizer 1 & 2"). 

Originally set for release in January, "Kraven the Hunter" is coming to theaters this fall — and now the first trailer has arrived.

In the comics, Kraven gets his superman strength and agility from regularly imbibing potions, but the trailer indicates that his origin story will be juiced by a lion attack that ends with lion blood dripping into his wounds. However it happens, the grown-up Kraven has a "connection with animals" that he uses "to track his prey." From what we see, that prey is comprised mostly of humans rather than animals — perhaps because it's a little difficult to get audiences rooting for a character who kills endangered species. And man is, after all, the most dangerous game.

Meanwhile, Russell Crowe plays Kraven's father, and we're delighted to report that he's doing another accent. Crowe appears to be the main villain of the piece; as Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character explains, "My father puts evil into the world. I take it out." It's possible that, in order to make Kraven a protagonist rather than simply one of Spider-Man's adversaries, the film will portray Crowe as the original, villainous Kraven the Hunter, with Taylor-Johnson as his less-evil son. Sergei Kravinoff did have a son in the comics, Vladimir Kravinoff, who was transformed into a humanoid lion. Perhaps Taylor-Johnson's Kraven being infused with lion blood is an adaptation of that.

We'll find out for sure when "Kraven the Hunter" opens in theaters on December 13, 2024.