When Sony Pictures announced its ambitious plan to expand the Spider-Man universe with a roster of antihero-centric spin-offs, fans were cautiously optimistic. The studio had already delivered mixed results with Venom (2018) and Morbius (2022)—films that oscillated between campy fun and outright incoherence. Kraven the Hunter, directed by J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year), was positioned as a darker, grittier entry into this expanding canon. With a talented cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and a director known for his nuanced storytelling, expectations were cautiously high. Yet, what unfolded on screen is a baffling misfire—a film that squanders its potential in a quagmire of tonal inconsistencies, underdeveloped characters, and a narrative that feels more like a contractual obligation than a passion project.

A Noble Savage Lost in the Jungle of Studio Mandates

The premise of Kraven the Hunter is straightforward enough. Sergei Kravinoff (Taylor-Johnson), the Russian aristocrat-turned-big-game hunter from Marvel Comics, is reimagined here as a brooding antihero who gains superhuman abilities after ingesting a mystical serum in Africa. This serum grants him enhanced strength, slowed aging, and a feral connection to the animal kingdom—traits that fuel his obsession with hunting the world’s most dangerous prey, including Spider-Man.

On paper, this setup is ripe for exploration. Kraven, in the comics, is a complex figure—a man driven by primal instincts and a warped code of honor, whose rivalry with Spider-Man is as much psychological as physical. Yet, the film reduces him to a generic action protagonist, devoid of the moral ambiguity that makes the character compelling. The script, penned by Matt Holloway and Steve Ditko (no relation to Spider-Man’s co-creator), leans heavily into origin-story clichés: a traumatic childhood, a strained relationship with his father (Russell Crowe, phoning it in), and a quest for redemption that never feels earned.

Taylor-Johnson, an actor capable of magnetic intensity (see: Nocturnal Animals), is tragically underutilized. His Kraven oscillates between growling monologues about “the hunt” and wooden delivery of lines that sound like ChatGPT-generated tough-guy dialogue. The film’s attempt to humanize him—through a half-baked subplot involving his bond with a local African community—feels exploitative, reducing an entire culture to set dressing for his white savior arc.

The Spider-Man Conundrum: A Villain Without a Hero

Here’s the elephant in the room: Kraven the Hunter is a Spider-Man spin-off without Spider-Man. While the post-credits scene teases a future showdown, the film itself awkwardly sidesteps the web-slinger’s absence. Instead, Kraven spends two hours hunting… mercenaries? Poachers? The script can’t seem to decide. A third-act twist introduces a genetically engineered “apex predator” (a laughably CGI-ed monstrosity) as the final boss, but by then, the stakes feel inconsequential.

This absence of Spider-Man isn’t just a narrative hole—it’s symbolic of the film’s identity crisis. Without Peter Parker to ground Kraven’s savagery in moral contrast, the story lacks urgency. Thematically, the film wants to explore the duality of man and beast, but its muddled execution—part Jungle Book, part John Wick—leaves both ideas half-baked. Even the much-hyped “animalistic” action sequences, choreographed to emphasize Kraven’s feral prowess, are undermined by choppy editing and an overreliance on slow-motion.

A Wasted Ensemble and the Curse of the Spin-Off

The supporting cast fares no better. Ariana DeBose, fresh off her Oscar win for West Side Story, is relegated to the role of a rogue mercenary with a grudge—a character so thinly written she might as well be named “Plot Device.” Fred Hechinger’s Chameleon, Kraven’s half-brother and a fan-favorite Spider-Man foe, is reduced to a tech-savvy sidekick whose shape-shifting abilities are used exactly once (for a forgettable gag). Alessandro Nivola, as the film’s generic corporate villain, delivers lines about “harnessing the serum’s power” with all the enthusiasm of a man reading a terms-and-conditions agreement.

Then there’s the elephant’s larger cousin: the film’s place in Sony’s Spider-Verse. Since Venom’s surprise success, Sony has been scrambling to replicate the formula, greenlighting spin-offs for characters audiences didn’t ask for (Morbius, Madame Web). Kraven feels like another corporate checkbox—a product designed not to tell a story, but to maintain copyrights. The script is littered with forced references to Oscorp, the Black Cat, and even a cringe-inducing cameo by J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons, bless him, deserves better). These Easter eggs don’t enrich the narrative; they remind viewers they’re watching a commercial for a universe that hasn’t earned their investment.

Visuals and Sound: Style Over Substance

On a technical level, Kraven the Hunter is a mixed bag. Cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (The Theory of Everything) bathes the African savanna in golden hues, creating a few striking tableaus of Kraven stalking his prey. However, these moments are overshadowed by bland CGI (that aforementioned “apex predator” looks like a Twilight werewolf reject) and action sequences that prioritize chaos over coherence. A nighttime raid on a poacher camp, lit only by muzzle flashes, should be tense; instead, it’s a murky mess of quick cuts.

The score, by Disasterpeace (It Follows), is similarly uneven. Tribal drums and primal chants hammer home the “savage” theme with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, while the quieter moments—meant to evoke Kraven’s inner turmoil—are drowned out by generic orchestral swells.

The Bigger Picture: Superhero Fatigue or Creative Bankruptcy?

Kraven the Hunter’s failure isn’t just a case of bad filmmaking—it’s a symptom of a larger crisis in superhero cinema. Audiences are growing weary of formulaic origin stories, and studios, terrified of risks, are doubling down on the very tropes that alienate viewers. The film’s dismal box office (61millionglobally,againsta100 million budget) and Razzie nomination for “Worst Prequel” are indicative of a genre in desperate need of reinvention.

Compare this to Joker (2019), a film that reimagined a comic-book villain as a character study on mental illness and societal decay. Kraven had the same potential—to deconstruct a hunter consumed by his own mythos—but instead, it settles for shallow spectacle. Even the R-rating, touted as a gateway to “mature” storytelling, feels like a marketing ploy. Beyond a few blood splatters and F-bombs, there’s little here that couldn’t air on basic cable.

A Hunt Without a Trophy

Kraven the Hunter isn’t the worst superhero film ever made—it lacks the unintentional hilarity of Catwoman or the sheer boredom of Fantastic Four (2015). Instead, it’s something far more depressing: a forgettable, middle-of-the-road product that evaporates from memory before the credits finish. For a character defined by his obsession with legacy, Kraven deserves better than this.

In the end, the film’s tagline—“Every hero needs a villain”—rings hollow. What Kraven the Hunter proves is that every villain needs a hero, too. Without Spider-Man’s humanity to counterbalance Kraven’s brutality, the hunt feels pointless. Here’s hoping the next Spider-Verse entry remembers that stories, not IP, are what truly captivate audiences.