Sony Prevented Kraven the Hunter From Appearing in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
When the third film in the Spider-Man franchise was being developed, one of the first concepts that Marvel Studios and the creative team wanted to explore was introducing Kraven the Hunter. There were reports about this before the film was released, and in the end it didn’t happen.
Director Jon Watts previously said, “Oh, I would love Kraven. It’s just the trick of how do you do Kraven in a movie?” He also admitted that he didn’t know what villain he would use next, saying, “I don’t know who’s next. I always like to think about it in terms of what’s going to be the most difficult thing for Peter. So that’s going to be the next trick.”
But, he really did want to play with Kraven, and with the way that Spider-Man: Far From Home ended, it was a perfect setup to bring Kraven the Hunter into the story. With Spider-Man being a wanted man, Kraven going to New York City to hunt down Spider-Man made sense.
Tom Holland previously said that Watts "pitched [him] this Kraven movie," and said: "For a long time, there was going to be a Kraven movie that was going to be the third movie because things weren’t working out and all sorts of different stuff. Jon pitched me this Kraven movie, which actually was really cool. I don’t want to talk about it in case that movie ends up happening down the line, but it was fun."
So, why didn’t Kraven the Hunter appear in the movie? According to writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, after pitching Kraven as the villain of the third movie, the studio executives told them that the character "was unavailable until Sony established him in a solo movie."
This information was revealed in the new book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, written by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards.
Kraven the Hunter is now getting his own solo film starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and it looks like it’s going to be a savage and insane movie. Maybe that movie will set up a face-off with Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man movie being developed. All I know is that I would love to see Spider-Man and Kraven face off on the big screen.
Kraven the Hunter is set to be released on August 30, 2024.
Via: The Direct