Games

Sony Shares Eight Minutes of Kraven the Hunter Online

Published

3 weeks ago

December 2, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

Kraven the Hunter sets a brutal and gory tone for the film’s R-rated action-packed storyline.
The first eight minutes of the film show Kraven’s violent escape from a Russian prison.
There are hopes Kraven the Hunter might redeem Sony’s universe of Marvel films.

Sony’s Marvel universe is rounding out the year with Kraven the Hunter, which will be an origin story for the famed Spider-Man villain. Ahead of the film’s release in a couple of weeks, the studio has released eight minutes of footage promoting the new movie.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson leads Kraven the Hunter as Sergei Kravinoff, a Russian criminal and poacher who aims to become the world’s greatest hunter. The Sony film is expected to explore Kraven’s relationship with his father, Nikolai, a crime lord played by Russell Crowe. Kraven the Hunter will be the third 2024 release from Sony’s Spioder-Man Marvel film universe, following the release of Madame Web and Venom: The Last Dance. The film has been delayed multiple times and was originally set for release in January 2023, before it got a

final release date of December 13, 2024.

Kraven The Hunter Director Asks People To Give Sony’s Spiderverse A Chance

JC Chandor has asked audiences to give Sony’s Spiderverse a chance ahead of Kraven the Hunter.

Kraven the Hunter is expected to be a darker and far more brutal superhero film out of Sony’s Marvel universe. Footage shown to fans at New York Comic-Con was reported to be brutal, bloody, and gory, earning the movie an R-rating by the MPAA. Some of that brutality is on display in the first eight minutes of the film, which Sony Pictures released on its official YouTube account.

The film opens with Kraven in custody and on his way to a Russian prison. Along the way, those around him doubt whether he has what it takes to survive in prison. Upon arrival, Kraven makes small talk with his cellmate and vows he won’t be around longer than three days. The next day in the exercise yard, Kraven is accosted by two prisoners who get a taste of his super strength when they attempt to remove him from the bench press. Kraven is then escorted to a man named Seymon Chorney, a gunrunner and the head of the Kirov gang. Kraven reveals his intentions, he is a hunter who preys on people like Chorney. Breaking off a fang from a taxidermied tiger, Kraven uses it to brutally murder Chorney’s men and then ends Chorney himself with a stab to the neck. The next sequence sees Kraven escape, using his strength and speed to parkour out of the prison and dodge the guards’ gunfire, eventually escaping on a plane that’s waiting for him. Once there, Kraven’s entire plan is revealed, He killed and impersonated the original criminal bound for the Russian prison to allow him to infiltrate and take out Chorney.

Can Kraven the Hunter Redeem the Sony Spiderverse?

The first eight minutes of Kraven the Hunter sets the tone for the film, which is as brutal and action-packed as previous reports have alluded to. It’s a promising start, but Sony’s Spiderverse universe hasn’t had the best track record, with Venom: The Last Dance scoring just 41% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, and Madame Web earning even less with just 11%. The box office outlook for Kraven the Hunter isn’t much better, but perhaps it can still surprise audiences and be the one to rebuild faith in Sony’s Marvel universe.

Kraven the Hunter is scheduled for release on December 13.

Kraven the Hunter

Release Date: December 13, 2024
Director: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Russell Crowe , Fred Hechinger , Ariana DeBose , Christopher Abbott , Alessandro Nivola , Levi Miller , Chi Lewis-Parry , Billy Barratt , Jessica Zhou , Michael Shaeffer , Dritan Kastrati , Greg Kolpakchi , Elander Moore , Filiz Fairweather , Duran Fulton Brown , Alex Skarbek , Rachel Handshaw , Preslav Shipkaliev , Murat Seven , Robert Ryan
Runtime: 127 Minutes
Main Genre: Adventure
Writers: Art Marcum , Richard Wenk , Matt Holloway
Budget: 130 million
Studio(s): Sony
Distributor(s): Sony
Character(s): Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven , Nikolai Kravinoff , Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon , Calypso , The Foreigner , Aleksei Sytsevich aka The Rhino , Young Sergei , Big Rhino , Young Dmitri , Passerby , André , Oleksander , Guard , Law Firm Receptionist , Restaurant Diner , Sniper 2 , Russian Captain , Cora’s Mum , Prison Officer , Ömer Aksoy , Russian Prisoner