Christopher Abbott is the latest casting announcement for Sony Pictures and Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter, Deadline reports. Abbott joins a long list of top tier Hollywood talent who have signed up to take on parts in the film. Included in that lineup are the film’s star, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who will play Kraven, Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Allessandro Nivola, and Fred Hechinger. While it is still being kept under wraps exactly who Abbot will be portraying, it is largely suspected that he’ll be filling in the shoes of the flick’s top villain, The Foreigner.
Taking over the film world one movie (and countless stars) at a time, the Marvel world continues to grow. The new feature will introduce antihero, Kraven, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fold. In the comic books, Kraven is known as one of Spider-Man’s toughest enemies as he is constantly setting out to prove himself by attempting to catch the web slinger. As for Abbott’s presumed character, The Foreigner, he too has tangled with Peter Parker over the years. Holding no superhuman abilities, he is instead known for his incredible martial arts skills that allow him to sneak attack enemies when they least expect it. Having appeared in not only Spider-Man’s story, but also opposite countless other Marvel characters, it’s possible that Abbott will be a mainstay in the MCU community for the foreseeable future. The news of Abbott’s villainous casting comes just days after the announcement that Nivola would be appearing in the film as another evil-doer, stacking the roster of bad guys in the upcoming feature.
Eying a theatrical release of January 13, 2023, Kraven the Hunter is under the direction of Academy Award nominee J.C. Chandor (Margin Call). Returning Marvel scribe, Art Marcum (Iron Man) wrote the script alongside Richard Wenk (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back) and Matt Holloway (Uncharted). Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce.
As for Abbott, he may be best known for his starring role in the George Clooney directed and led Hulu miniseries, Catch-22. Based on the Joseph Heller book of the same name, Abbott starred as Captain John Yossarian, a United States Army Air Force bombardier in World War II. For his incredible performance in the series, Abbott earned a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. Up next, fans can catch the performer in both Searchlight’s scientific love story, Poor Things, and Apple TV+’s anthology series, The Crowded Room.
With more news coming out almost weekly surrounding the upcoming feature, we can’t wait to hear who’s next in line to be added to the cast of Kraven the Hunter.