Kraven the Hunter will not be stalking his way into theaters this summer after all.
Sony Pictures has shaken up its release calendar once again, this time moving the highly anticipated R-rated SSU film, Kraven the Hunter, from its scheduled summer debut to a winter premiere on December 13, 2024. This shift, pushing it back from its previous August 30, 2024 date, marks another delay in the film’s journey to the big screen.
Originally slated for release in October 2023, Kraven has faced multiple setbacks. Most recently, the Hollywood strikes led to a delay, as the studio opted to hold off on its release until actors could participate in promotional activities.
Concerns over box office performance, particularly in the wake of Madame Web’s disappointing numbers, loom large. Should Kraven fail to impress, it could spell trouble for the future of the SSU.
Despite Venom and Morbius being positioned within the same universe and sharing ties to the MCU, recent reports suggest a shift in approach. Kraven, along with Madame Web and Venom: The Last Dance, are now being marketed as “standalone” projects, distancing themselves from overt interconnectedness.
Jeff Gomez, an executive transmedia producer at Starlight Runner who collaborated with Sony on Spider-Man: Homecoming, weighed in on this strategy, noting previous attempts at emphasizing interconnectedness have faltered. It seems the studio is taking a cautious approach to its cinematic universe’s direction.
This doesn’t mean the movies won’t interconnect in any way, as it may simply indicate that Sony would rather downplay their ties to previously established cinematic universes.
“Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.”
Kraven the Hunter is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is intended to be the sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The film was directed by J. C. Chandor and written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk.
In addition to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, Ariana DeBose will play Calypso, a voodoo priestess and Kraven’s on-off love interest (in the comics, at least); Fred Hechinger is Dmitri Smerdyakov, aka the Chameleon, who is Kraven’s half-brother; Alessandro Nivola will play Aleksei Sytsevich, aka the Rhino, and Christopher Abbott will portray another villain known as the Foreigner.
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