Does Kraven The Hunter Set Up More Marvel Movies From Sony?

This article contains spoilers for “Kraven the Hunter.”

The premiere of “Kraven the Hunter” this week has been hobbled thanks to the word that the cinematic universe it belongs to — the eventually-named Sony Spider-Man Universe — is effectively dead, with the studio choosing to focus on the next “Spider-Man” movie. This comes as no big surprise to anyone, really; even if you haven’t been paying attention to the poor critical and commercial reception for the films that make up this macro franchise, the demise of this cinematic universe is only following the pattern for cinematic universes that aren’t Marvel’s proper. At this point in the trend, audiences are well-versed in movies that were part of grand designs for a larger, interconnected series, plans that will no longer come to fruition.

To answer the question directly: no, “Kraven the Hunter” does not set up more Marvel movies from Sony, at least not in a clear-cut, “next time in the Sony Spider-Man Universe” fashion. While the filmmakers behind “Kraven” were likely thinking more films in its own series as well as crossover movies were going to follow, it seems that the poor performance of both “Madame Web” and “Venom: The Last Dance” meant that there was no future for “Kraven” even before it finally made it to theaters. Given that “Kraven” itself doesn’t seem likely to break any box office records this weekend, it’s a good bet that we won’t be seeing these characters on screen again for a long while. It all makes for an ignominious end to a cinematic universe that didn’t have to suffer such a sad fate.

On paper, the failure of the Sony Spider-Man Universe seems almost shocking. After all, Spider-Man is second only to Batman as the most consistently beloved and reliably successful superhero at the box office. With Spidey comics being regularly published since 1963, there are hundreds of supporting characters and storylines that can be mined for spin-off films. That was certainly the thinking Sony Pictures had when creating their plans for an offshoot cinematic universe, something that was a twinkle in the studio’s eye as far back as 2010. The problem they faced initially with getting that universe off the ground is the hurdle they failed to clear to this day, which is what to do about Spider-Man himself.

To be fair, Sony’s initial plans weren’t so silly as to disregard or not involve Spider-Man from the outset in their proposed series of films. They fully intended to have any and all spin-off movies connect back to a main Spidey narrative, but the issue became compounded when 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” didn’t meet their financial or critical goals. Thus, although rumblings of a potential “Sinister Six” film fell apart, the idea of making one or several spin-off movies from Spidey’s rogues gallery never quite went away.

With the release of “Venom” in 2018, it seemed like a Spider-Man universe without Spider-Man might actually be viable, as actor Tom Hardy’s portrayal of the symbiote-infected Eddie Brock was just weird enough to make one forget about whether or not he’d ever fight Peter Parker. The 2021 sequel, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” also seemed promising, but a post-credits scene seemed to hint that Eddie had just been brought over to the MCU’s timeline, only for that concept to be immediately walked back by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (a plot point belabored over at the beginning of “The Last Dance,” too). That confusion only got worse when 2022’s “Morbius” brought in Michael Keaton’s Vulture from “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and this year’s “Madame Web” changed its entire plot in post to better fit in continuity with Marvel and Sony’s jointly-owned Spidey. For these origin story movies of ostensibly supporting characters, their connection to Spider-Man only became more confused and tenuous.

In all honesty, it’s inaccurate to say that “Kraven the Hunter” contains zero hints at future adventures of these characters and this universe. The film was conceived and shot as if there would be more to come, after all, and hasn’t been completely scrubbed of those elements. For one thing, the entire movie is the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven the Hunter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), not just how he came to obtain his superpowers but also who his family is, where he gets his comic-accurate costume from, and why he may have fought Spider-Man in the future (to that last point: he has a debilitating fear of spiders that he inherited from his mentally ill mother).

The film also introduces the character of the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), reimagined as a criminal kingpin who was experimented on by a mysterious scientist in New York City, who gave him an indestructible skin. That scientist is later referred to by name as Dr. Miles Warren, who comic fans know is (or will become) the villain known as The Jackal. At the end of the movie, Sergei’s wayward brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), tells Kraven about his own trip to visit Dr. Warren, and how the scientist has helped him develop his innate powers of mimicry to become the villain known as The Chameleon. It seems that “Kraven” was expecting Dr. Warren/The Jackal to become a major player in the future, either in a direct sequel or another spin-off.

Given the way the movie ends, however — a simple cut to credits, with no mid- or post-credit scenes — it seems clear that “Kraven the Hunter” won’t be getting a sequel or spin-off appearance anytime soon. While numerous issues plague both this movie and several of the other Sony Spider-Man Universe films, the main problem at their center (aka the lack of Spider-Man) is something that could easily be fixed in the future. Well, depending on the plans of Marvel Studios and the various legal entanglements surrounding the character. Plus, the introduction of the multiverse and the popularity of the appearances from de-canonized superheroes in “Deadpool & Wolverine” could mean that Kraven and friends might turn up again one day. When it comes to the Sony Spideyverse, never say never, but don’t hold your breath.