Though most of the movies have been bad to very bad, it’s a shame Kraven the Hunter is likely to be the last non-Spider-Man film in the Sony Spider-Man Universe. After Morbius, Madame Web, and three Venom movies failed to do much, Kraven the Hunter is so jam-packed with Spider-Man references you can almost see a path toward the Webslinger starting to take shape. A path that, now, is unlikely to be taken. And so, with the film now in theaters, let’s talk about all the Spider-Man connections and suggestions made in Kraven the Hunter.
We’re about to get into some major Kraven spoilers so if you plan on seeing the film, time to look away.
One of the biggest, figuratively and literally, connections to Spider-Man in Kraven is Rhino. Rhino, like Kraven, is one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains and even appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Here, Rhino is the film’s big bad guy, a gangster (played by Alessandro Nivola) who is seeking to take over the turf of Kraven’s father, Nikolai Kravinoff, played by Russell Crowe.
Rhino, real name Aleksei Sytsevich, explains he can turn into Rhino because of a procedure he got done in New York by a doctor named Miles Warren. We’ll have much, much more on Warren later this week but he’s a crucial Marvel Comics character and in Spidey’s home of New York. (Most of Kraven is set abroad.) Then, at the end of the film, we learn that Kraven’s brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) went to a doctor in New York to get a procedure and now can physically change his form into other people. He’s officially the Chameleon, a name he’s called numerous times earlier in the film because of his ability to mimic people. He doesn’t specify that it was Warren who did this, but Dmitri was the character Rhino told about Warren—so, we can assume it was.
So that’s just the start. Three potential members of the Sinister Six—Kraven, Rhino, and Chameleon, two of whom were created by the same mad scientist. And sure, Rhino dies in the film, but it’s a comic book world. What does death even mean?
Beyond the big three Spidey villains in Kraven, there are also two smaller ones. First is Calypso, played by Ariana DeBose. Calypso is the person who gave Kraven his powers thanks to a secret potion from her grandmother; later, we learn she’s something of a trained assassin herself, learning archery skills at “summer camp.” She’s a good guy in the film but, again, so is Kraven.
There’s also the Foreigner, played by Christopher Abbot. In the comics, the Foreigner is kind of a basic assassin/soldier, and here he’s got some weird hypnosis power. Nevertheless, he’s hired by Rhino to find Kraven and when he does, gives him a toxin that scares someone into submission by revealing their biggest fear. That fear for Kraven is, drum roll please, spiders. We see spiders begin crawling all over his body and dropping from the sky. It’s very lame that someone who fights lions and tigers and bears (oh my) would be afraid of spiders—but, you know, Spider-Man.
So that’s FIVE Spider-Man villains in the film and an actual link to spiders. Is there more? Of course. The film references the Daily Bugle twice, once online and second when the Foreigner brings a copy to a meeting to explain his distaste for Kraven. (Kraven killed his gangster boss who isn’t named but the paper refers to as a “hit man.”) That’s a lot of Spider-Man references and though there’s no clear road that leads them all to Spider-Man, it’s obviously groundwork. Much more than Morbius, Venom, or Madame Web did too.
Kraven the Hunter then ends with Chameleon accusing his brother of being just as evil as he or their dad was. And, in the final shot, he puts on the lion coat the character is known for. Is Kraven finally embracing that he’s a murderer? Maybe a second film would see that explored with brothers battling it out in New York. An event that would be covered by the Daily Bugle and, maybe, an intrepid new photographer by the name of Peter Parker. Maybe they’d cross paths with a blind mentor, Cassandra Web, or a famous doctor, Michael Morbius. Maybe another journalist, Eddie Brock, could’ve been in the city at the time. See where this all could’ve gone? Alas, though, Kraven might be it.
And no, there’s no post-credit scene. Kraven the Hunter is now in theaters.
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