‘Spider-Man’ Spinoff ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Marks Russell Crowe’s Second Marvel Role After ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
Russell Crowe is taking on another Marvel role. The actor will join Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff movie, Kraven the Hunter.
After ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ Russell Crowe gets second Marvel role in the Spider-Man spinoff Kraven the Hunter
After his award-winning performances in films like Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, it’s no surprise Marvel wants to keep casting him in their movies. The 57-year-old actor will appear as the powerful comic book God Zeus opposite Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder, which releases May 6, 2022.
And according to The Hollywood Reporter, Crowe has just been added to the cast of Sony’s next Marvel film, Kraven the Hunter. The film, slated for a January 2023 release, comes from director J. C. Chandor and writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.
For now, the Kraven the Hunter filmmakers are keeping Crowe’s character details a secret. But considering the actor’s accomplishments, it will likely be a significant role.
Kraven the Hunter stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular anti-hero. The movie marks Taylor-Johnson’s second Marvel role as well. He previously appeared as Pietro Maximoff (the brother of Elizabeth’s Olsen’s character, Wanda Maximoff) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
‘Kraven the Hunter’ is connected to ‘Spider-Man’
Kraven the Hunter comes from Sony, which holds the movie rights to several Marvel characters and recently released blockbusters like Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The film will follow the anti-hero Sergei Kravinoff, aka Kraven the Hunter. In Marvel comics, Kraven the Hunter is an expert tracker, and hunter whose life’s mission is to find and kill Spider-Man.
The character made his comic book debut in the 1964 issue, The Amazing Spider-Man #15. He is known as one of Spider-Man’s most formidable foes. And along with founding the Sinister Six, he’s worked with villains like Doctor Octopus and Chameleon.
Kraven the Hunter has been featured in several Spider-Man stories over the years. In some versions, he’s determined to defeat Spider-Man. But in others, he earns respect for the teen superhero and fights alongside him.
Kraven the Hunter almost appeared in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
Before Sony announced the new Kraven the Hunter movie, the studio considered introducing the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home. According to Tom Holland, when director Jon Watts pitched him the third film, he described Kraven as the film’s villain.
“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,” Holland told Collider. “Jon pitched me this Kraven movie, which actually was really cool.”
Watts ended up taking a different approach. And instead of featuring Kraven the Hunter, he introduced the multiverse and brought back old Spider-Man villains, including Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus.
Kraven the Hunter may not have appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But now that he’s getting his own movie, there’s a chance he’ll appear in crossover Marvel projects.
