Kraven the Hunter is in the midst of production as filming is now underway on the upcoming feature. A part of Sony's universe of Marvel movies, which includes the Venom films along with the upcoming Morbius, Kraven the Hunter features Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular Spider-Man foe. Though Kraven is typically depicted as a villain in Spider-Man comics, the film may present him as more of an anti-hero, similar to Venom and Morbius.
Per @KravenSource on Twitter, images from the set have also started to be released. They include a look at Taylor-Johnson's stunt double, giving us an early peek at what Kraven will look like in the movie. In one video clip that was tweeted, a double dressed up as Kraven is clinging to the side of a car driving down the road. With cameras rolling, it probably won't be long before images of Taylor-Johnson and the other announced cast members in character start surfacing as well.
Along with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven, Kraven the Hunter will also star Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) as Calypso, Alessandro Nivola (The Many Saints of Newark) as an unknown villain, Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) as The Chameleon, Christopher Abbott (Catch-22) as The Foreigner, and Russell Crowe (Gladiator) in a role rumored to be that of Kraven's father. J.C. Chandor is directing with a screenplay by Richard Wenk.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Looks at Kraven the Hunter as the Supervillain's Origin Story
Some fans were surprised with Aaron Taylor-Johnson's casting in Kraven the Hunter which was reportedly based on an audition that blew away the filmmakers. The fans were not privy to this audition and some had concerns about the actor not quite looking exactly like his comic book counterpart. Taylor-Johnson spoke about the situation with Hero Magazine and said that these particular comic book readers need to look at the film from a different point of view.
"You do come at it from another angle, which is back-to-front for me," he said. "It’s like you’re coming at it from the physical aspect, because that’s what you can see from a comic book. You go, 'Oh, he looks like that, so I have to look like that.' You see that, and then you start to backtrack and dig deeper, and go, 'This is where he originates from, then he has this relationship and that relationship…' You just hope that you’re going to portray something that you can bring to life."
He added, "There is, again, room for an interpretation, and you want to be able to bring something and let it pop off the page. It’s another new challenge, we talk about putting yourself under pressure all the time. I don’t step away from controversial s***, I don’t know what it is, but I’m always drawn to the thing that might actually give me a f****** stroke!"
We'll all find out how it turns out when the film is released. Look for Kraven the Hunter to hit movie theaters on Jan. 13, 2023.