Kraven The Hunter Must Avoid A Venom And Morbius Villain Mistake

Sony’s Kraven the Hunter movie needs to avoid a common mistake found in the Venom and Morbius films and continues to be a trend in other blockbuster superhero outings. The next entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe will feature Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s titular character encountering a yet-to-be-confirmed antagonist after the critical and financial failure that was Morbius. While the theatrical release for Kraven is still a short while away, the expectations for the movie could be higher if Sony manages to differentiate the film from the other SSU entries in a critical way.

The overall reception for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has been mostly negative due to dated storytelling and visual effects among a flurry of other issues. Kraven the Hunter has a major villain problem due to plot details that have been revealed surrounding an unnamed villain going through a physical transformation toward the movie’s finale. This critical problem contributes to another drastic issue that could define the execution of the overall story and antagonists despite early test screenings revealing it’s a “pretty solid film“.

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Kraven’s Antagonist Must Be Visually & Thematically Different

Among some of the redundant issues with Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius, a common complaint about Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is that all three films feature villains that are essentially copy-and-paste versions of the protagonists. The Life Foundation’s Carlton Drake, who becomes the symbiote Riot, and Cletus Kasady’s Carnage are almost exactly the same as Venom based on their appearances. Additionally, Milo has the same power set as his adoptive brother Michael Morbius along with a relatively similar look.

While the upcoming Venom 3 isn’t the end of the SSU, Kraven the Hunter has an opportunity to rejuvenate the franchise should Kraven face an opponent that doesn’t resemble his appearance or have a similar level of fighting skills. A way of approaching this that could work would be Kraven not having any personal connections to his enemy or enemies. Perhaps Kraven would even be hired to hunt someone down who is the polar opposite of him physically and characteristically.

Who The Villain Might Be In Kraven The Hunter

There are many rumors as to which villain Kraven the Hunter will face in his solo movie, but nothing has been confirmed outright. Fred Hechinger has been rumored to play Dmitri Smerdyakov’s Chameleon, a seemingly different version of the Dmitri who was last seen in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose is believed to be making her Marvel debut as Calypso, who is occasionally a love interest and partner of Kraven. Finally, Christopher Abbott is speculated to be playing Foreigner, an assassin who married Silver Sable. Kraven‘s spoiled twist suggests the villain could be any one of these characters.

Of course, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man appearing in Kraven the Hunter could be a very real possibility whether it’s in the form of a short cameo or a supporting role as the antagonist. While the latter option likely wouldn’t end up being the case, it would be very different for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe to depict Spider-Man this way, and would help it stand out from Venom and Morbius. Whoever the main villain will be, it’s crucial that Sony breaks the trend of having copycat antagonists.

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