Russell Crowe is the latest addition to Sony’s Kraven the Hunter, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular Marvel villain. As The Hollywood Reporter reveals, there are still no details about the movie’s plot or Crowe’s part. However, many of the movie’s main cast are reportedly part of Kraven’s family, which could indicate the origin story will deal with some sort of family affair.
Kraven the Hunter, born Sergei Kravinoff, was first introduced in Marvel Comics as a foe to Spider-Man. Trying to prove that he was the greatest hunter in the world, Kraven decided to take on the most dangerous prey he knew about: the Web-Crawler himself. While Kraven’s story is initially attached to Spider-Man, Sony will give the villain the same treatment as Venom and the upcoming Morbius. That means that Kraven the Hunter will be an origin story that’ll depict the famous Marvel character as a sort of anti-hero, who could potentially cross over with other Marvel properties Sony still controls.
Tom Hardy’s success as Venom led the first movie of the villain to get a sequel, and to the expansion of Sony’s universe of Marvel characters with Jared Leto selected to play Morbius, the living vampire. After Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Hardy is reportedly coming back to Morbius, where he’ll join Michael Keaton. Keaton played the Vulture on Spider-Man: Homecoming, and while nothing is officially confirmed, his appearance in Morbius might indicate Sony is boosting up their corner of the Marvel universe in theaters. With Kraven’s production picking up the pace, it shouldn’t take long for Sony to invest in big crossover movies.
Before showing up in Kraven, Crowe is also set to appear in another Marvel movie, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, which the actor is reportedly joining as Marvel’s version of Zeus. Crowe’s will also be seen next in Apple’s and Skydance’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a drama about a man who tried to track down and share a beer with his childhood buddies who are in the army fighting in the Vietnam War. Finally, Crowe is also directing Peacock’s upcoming series Poker Face, in which he also stars alongside Liam Hemsworth and RZA.
Kraven the Hunter will be directed by Triple Frontier and A Most Violent Year’s J.C. Chandor, with a script by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk. Taylor-Johnson has reportedly signed on to play the villain in multiple films.
Kraven the Hunter is scheduled to release in theaters on January 13th, 2023.