Due to their licensing agreement with Marvel, there are only a handful of Marvel characters that Sony is allowed to make movies about, and that’s Spider-Man-related characters. The only problem is, though, that they aren’t actually able to interact with the beloved wall-crawler due to the character’s current role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s why we’ve seen films such as Venom and Morbius in recent years and projects like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter are on the way.
On Monday, the first trailer for the next film in Sony’s Spider-Man-less experiment, Kraven the Hunter, hit the internet and left fans worrying the film is going to be a repeat of the disastrous Jared Leto-starring Morbius.
Directed by J.C. Chandor — who has also helmed Margin Call, All Is Lost, A Most Violent Year, and Triple Frontier — Kraven the Hunter is scheduled to hit movie theaters in the United States on Friday, October 6.
Another great Spiderman character Sony is going to botch. Come on man. https://t.co/KosxNIWw8F
— KPT91 (@KPT_91) June 19, 2023
Why does he have an American accent? And this looks like the Morbius trailer beat for beat https://t.co/futtohjcdW
— 🫧. (@mrrffaa) June 19, 2023
Starring as the titular Kraven the Hunter is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who some consider to be the favorite to take over the role of James Bond. If Kraven the Hunter bombs at the box office in the same way that Morbius did, though, that certainly won’t help Taylor-Johnson’s chances of suiting up as the next 007.
not quite a Morbius-level disaster by the looks of things but still dumb bad baby stuff
“Boys… your mother is dead.” *CUT TO TOMBSTONE WITH LIGHTNING FLASH SOUND EFFECT* https://t.co/LIuubaHGfo
— Ross 🇮🇪 🇺🇸 #DUNESWEEP (@ross_on_twt) June 19, 2023
Looks shit but better than Morbius probably https://t.co/Igp6txWPq5
— Obbster (@TheObbster) June 19, 2023
Top 3 Spider-Man Villian to me and Sony has ruined him already 😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/F3V8ZNSG9t
— Beenjammin Draper🫠 (@BenjiiiD7) June 19, 2023
Again, as a huge Spider-Man fan, I need to know who asked for this? https://t.co/Q3cx13xjup
— Vex (@creative_vexes) June 19, 2023
One thing movie fans don’t seem to understand is who, exactly, is asking for these Spidey spinoff films (other than Sony shareholders, of course).
This looks….very bad https://t.co/P2DyB09MDh
— Commissioner Gordon (@NotoriousJMFG) June 19, 2023
This is gonna be awful man https://t.co/t3EunzeU8I
— Kee🗽🇵🇷 (@Kee_Bully19) June 19, 2023
In addition to Taylor-Johnson — who has previously starred in projects such as Savages, Godzilla, Bullet Train, Nocturnal Animals, and Tenet — the cast of Kraven the Hunter includes Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, and Christopher Abbott.
The film is the fourth in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (the actual name the studio gave the franchise), following the two Venom films and Morbius, and preceding 2024’s Madame Web, which stars Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and more.