The Rhino Confirmed as a Villain in Aaron Taylor-Johnson's KRAVEN THE HUNTER

During the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon this week, we finally got a glimpse into the world of their upcoming Marvel film, Kraven the Hunter. The trailer was a lot of fun and bloody as hell! The movie is definitely going to be a violent R-Rated film, and if you are interested in learning more, please go check out our reaction video posted here.

One of the coolest and most surprising parts of the trailer was the reveal that at some point over the course of the film, Kraven will be facing off against the classic Spider-Man villain, The Rhino. 

Rhino is being played by actor Alessandro Nivola. Nivola has been in movies such as Amsterdam and Face Off. The only scene that we saw of Rhino came at the very end of the trailer, and it showed his arm transforming from a normal arm into a giant rhino-skinned arm. This is what Nivola had to say to THR about the role:

“I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie, so it’s just a classic villain role,” Nivola said. “It had a really interesting, complex psychology and personal history to draw on, and the movie has a time jump in it, so the character changes a lot from the way he is in the beginning of the film. It was as much of an acting opportunity as any other film I’ve done.”

I am excited to see how they develop this character. If Kraven isn’t going to be hunting Spider-Man, Rhino is the next best thing. 

Rhino first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #41 in 1966. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita Sr. Rhino is a large and powerful villain with superhuman strength, durability, and a nearly indestructible suit of body armor that resembles the hide of a rhinoceros. In the comics, his real name is Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich, a thug from a Soviet Bloc country who underwent an experimental procedure that gave him his powers. Despite his brute strength and intimidating appearance, Rhino has often been depicted as a tragic figure, often being manipulated or exploited by other villains or forced into committing crimes against his will. It will be interesting to see how the character is portrayed in this movie.

In Kraven the Hunter, Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Taylor-Johnson called the J.C. Chandor-directed project “a Marvel movie grounded heavily in the real world. We know he is a fierce hunter, a highly trained killer.” He then answered “the internet’s biggest question” by saying… “F**k yeah, it will be rated R!”

J.C. Chandor is directing the movie from a script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man), and it stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven, Ariana DeBose as Calypso, Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff, Fred Hechinger as Chameleon, Levi Miller, and Catch-22 star Christopher Abbott as the main villain, The Foreigner.

Kraven the Hunter arrives in theaters on October 6, 2023. Let us know what you think.

Billy Out!!