Back when Andrew Garfield was comparing villains with the other Spidey heroes in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he confessed to feeling lame because he’d only managed to fight a Russian guy (Paul Giamatti) in a rhinoceros suit. It was a funny jab at The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and the inclusivity of all the past Spider-Man movies helped to make No Way Home one of the best Spider-Man films ever created. But the Spider-Man universe needs to evolve, either through an in-development Spider-Man 4, or on the Sony side of things, where villains continue to thrive. Kraven the Hunter is coming in December, and in addition to featuring Aaron Taylor Johnson in the title role, we are getting a much-improved Rhino, played by Alessandro Nivola. He’s featured in the new trailer, and actually looks sick. Watch it now!
Sony has been rolling out standalone movies based on classic Spider-Man villains for years, starting with Tom Hardy’s first Venom movie. Some have worked well. Others are named Madame Web. But making a movie based on Kraven the Hunter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) at least makes sense on the surface. He is a long-standing Spider-Man movie introduced during the earliest days of the hero’s comics. He is a founding member of The Sinister Six… something I still think Sony is building toward. And he has been part of several influential Spider-Man storylines. More than, say, Morbius.
So, this new movie appears to be setting him up in a universe the way that Tom Hardy did with Venom. We learn that Kraven, like his father, is a viciously talented hunter. We learn that once you are on his list, there’s only one way off of it (and you won’t like that way off). And we learn that he’s tasked with hunting a new beast… a Rhino that he’s going to take on in an action set piece.
Most of the Rhino footage was in motion, but I captured this shot. It’s so much better than Giamatti’s mech suit.
There’s a fair amount to anticipate in this trailer. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is good casting for Kraven, and if we one day get to see him face off against a Spider-Man, he’d make for a worthy opponent. Russell Crowe has shown that he can have fun in B-list properties like this, and I am legit excited about seeing a proper interpretation of The Rhino.
Let’s do a head count. Sony has an impressive roster of villains in its universe now, including The Vulture (Michael Keaton) – who was brought over at the end of Morbius – Venom, Kraven and a Rhino. The upcoming Spider-Man projects at Sony are focusing on one-off projects like the Spider-Man Noir project with Nicolas Cage, and the animated conclusion to the Into the Spider-Verse series. But if they ever figure out what to do with a live-action Spider-Man who is different from Tom Holland, then they have laid some groundwork for them to have villains to fight.
Look for Venom: The Last Dance in theaters on October 25, followed by Kraven the Hunter in theaters on December 13.
