Reel Review: Kraven The Hunter Concludes Marvel’s Misguided Villain Spin-Off Saga

There’s constantly overwhelming excitement that comes over me when I see the announcement of any Marvel movie, and yes, this includes the Sony Spider-Man villain series that doesn’t feature Spider-Man. I hear it’s what they call blind loyalty, which I undoubtedly have, just like many Marvel fans. But I’ll admit, anytime I hear “Sony” and “Marvel” together, I brace myself for either shocking success or epic failure. But we marked the end of Sony’s creative cinematic choice with Kraven the Hunter.

We follow the story of Sergei Kravinoff, also known as Kraven. It’s a pretty simple story: a young boy with an abusive father accidentally gains powers, setting him off on a hunt for the shady people in the world—in other words, men like his father. While Kraven is meant to be gruesome and animalistic, there’s this attempt to humanize him through his loyalty to animals, protecting them from humans, and to his family, mainly his younger brother.

Here’s the thing: this isn’t a villain that particularly stands out on his own—not because of the absence of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but because we’ve seen this role before, and the story doesn’t build enough of Kraven to make him a character you’re rooting for, let alone interested in. His role in society is clear—he lurks in the shadows and doesn’t come out of his cage unless provoked. Kraven remains the same throughout the entire film, learning nothing, besides discovering his untapped ability to lean into being the most dangerous and ferocious version of himself.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson jumps into this film showing us he has what it takes to continue to take on action films—something no one was doubting. He does his best to carry the film. He has charm yet remains menacing, but that’s not quite enough. The movie attempts to give us a whole Kraven but falters on one of the most critical aspects of a character’s identity: their relationships. They give us Russell Crowe in a forceful Russian accent playing Nikolai Kravinoff. He’s suitable, but this wasn’t his time to shine. And Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Kravinoff? This relationship was a complete miss. It may have had the potential to create a meaningful storyline showing the true nature of Dmitri and Sergei’s relationship, but instead, they wipe him out for most of the movie.

Surprisingly, Ariana DeBose is a major disappointment as Calyso. This character was lost throughout the entire film as she never fully found her footing, and it left me asking, why? Why is she even in the movie? The attempt to align Calyso and Sergei’s journeys fails; the characters were obviously disconnected, and it shows in the performances of both Johnson and DeBose.

Topping it off with Alessandro Nivola as Rhino. I’d argue that a good villain could be a savior to many films, but that’s not the case here. Most of Nivola’s performance is laugh-out-loud ridiculous. At no point did he add any thrill to the journey; instead, he gave unbelievable moments that are sure to spark some excitement in your watch.

Here’s where the film really falls flat: visuals. There’s so much post-production editing that it makes you wonder whether anyone actually watched this back to see how it is perceived by the viewer. The CGI is underwhelming and unbelievable, and the transformation sequences felt like bootleg compilations. This, coupled with the dialogue of the film, made me struggle to take it seriously.

This movie goes beyond what some were calling poor character choices—this movie fails to hold itself together, but most importantly, it doesn’t honor its fanbase.

Kraven the Hunter is now available to stream on Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Fandango At Home.