The sad truth of blockbuster cinema is that many decisions aren’t made for artistic reasons. Many of the projects fans love have been trimmed down or tampered with by the wealthy IP holders who technically own the characters. Some comic book icons have been the subject of brutal battles between studios. Even lesser-known faces like Kraven the Hunter have been the prize of this frustrating game.
Kraven is the latestSpider-Man villain to earn a solo film as part of Sony’s long-suffering cinematic universe. The film is set to be a desperate grab at the steering wheel of this franchise before it finishes sailing off the cliff it’s been rocketing toward. With fans skeptical of each new project and uniquely aware of the behind-the-scenes conflict harming their favorite projects, it’s worth looking at what Sony killed so thatKraven the Huntercould live.
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Every planned appearance of Kraven the Hunter
Sony’s upcomingKraven the Hunterwas announced in early 2019. Sony hiredEqualizer 2writer Richard Wenk to create the script in August 2018, two months before the release ofVenom. However, this is far from the first recorded attempt to use Kraven in a movie. A decade earlier,Sam Raimi wanted touse the character in his planned fourthSpider-Manmovie. Raimi has publicly stated he’d dreamed of seeing his Spider-Man clash with the Hunter on the big screen. He imagined Vulture and Lizard as the villains of the piece, but Kraven fascinated him. Script problems gradually ate away at the project, eventually leading to Raimi’s departure and Sony’s reboot in 2012. Kraven was teased in the 2014 sequel, which attempted to set up the Sinister Six with the Hunter as a key member. That tease could pay off in the form ofKraven the Hunter.
Sony imagined Kraven as part of its SSU shortly after the project launched. They weren’t the only ones. Jon Watts, directorofSpider-Man: HomecomingandFar From Home, developed a pitch for Kraven’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Just a few months after Sony announcedKraven, headlines announced Watts' desire to bring the character into the third MCUSpider-Manfilm. Watts was interested in exploring comic book villains who had never reached the screen. Naturally, Marvel abandoned that idea in favor of the universe-hopping extravaganza ofNo Way Home. It’s funny to see Marvel refuse the opportunity to breathe life into new cinematic portrayals to focus on resurrecting the old ones.
Perhaps most intriguingly,Black Pantherdirector Ryan Cooglerexpressed interest in using Kraven the Hunter in T’Challa’s MCU debut. Coogler has never mentioned Kraven’s potential role in the film, stating that his desire to use the villain was squashed early. Coogler was inspired by a 1999Black Panthercomic called “Hunted” by Christopher Priest. That issue involved Kraven being hired by T’Challa’s adopted brother Hunter the White Wolf. Kraven attacked T’Challa in a kitchen, sparking a brief fight. The Black Panther later assaulted Kraven in the street, delivering such a savage beating that the Avengers had to pull T’Challa away. The characters have met on other occasions, sometimes even working together to save endangered animals, an issue that moves them both.Coogler was quickly informedhe couldn’t use Kraven, keeping the character out of the MCU.
Why hasn’t Kraven the Hunter been in a movie?
The short answer is that Sony owned the rights to the character.Raimi’s version of Kravennever reached the screen because his fourthSpider-Manfilm was canceled. Reportedly, he stepped away from the project willingly after failing to find a purpose. Watts and Coogler were working at Marvel Studios when they expressed interest in using Kraven, a character owned by Sony. Marvel sold the film rights to Spider-Man multiple times. In 1985, superhero movies were seen as unsure investments. When they got the rights back in 1999, they sold it again to Sony. Columbia Tristar, a division of Sony Pictures, produced Raimi’sSpider-Manfilms. Like the wall-crawler, Kraven was part of a years-long custody battle. Every character Sony can hold onto is a feather in their cap. More importantly, it’s an asset their competition can’t use. The famous fight over Peter Parker almost shut down the production ofNo Way Homebefore it started. Thanks to Tom Holland and the ever-present outcry of fans, Marvel coulddeliver the best Spider-Man trilogyavailable yet, explicitly because Sony’s involvement was reduced. Characters like Kraven aren’t as lucky.
Kraven the Hunter isone of the dozens of characters wrapped up in legal disputes between impossibly wealthy companies struggling to claw a few extra dollars away from their enemies. Looking into potential plans for these silly superhero movies provides a nasty reminder of creativity’s place in the industry. As even Marvel’s empire starts to show signs of slowing down and superhero movies earn the ire of the general audience, it’s hard not to lose interest in watching studios deliver CGI-riddled versions of boardroom negotiations. The world hasn’t seen Kraven the Hunter from the mind of Sam Raimi, Jon Watts, or Ryan Coogler because Sony didn’t want it to.
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