Sam Raimi Wanted to Do a Spider-Man Movie with Kraven, and We Should Let Him

Kraven the Hunter brandishing daggers in The Spectacular Spider-Man.

image: SonyAnimation/Marvel

Back in their heyday, Sam Raimi’s Spider Man trilogy brought in some of the wallcrawler’s best enemies (and also Venom) for Tobey Maguire to do battle with. But for many fans, it’s more interesting to think about who Raimi was set to bring to the big screen with a hypothetical Spider-Man 4 and beyond. We know that we could’ve had ourselves a Vulture Prior to Michael Keaton donning the tech wings for Spider-Man: Homecoming, and now Raimi’s opened up about another villain he wanted to bring into the cinematic fold.

During an interview with Rolling StoneRaimi re-confirmed that yes, he wanted long time cameo collaborator Bruce Campbell to take on the role of Mysterio in Spider-Man 4. (Not as the main villain, just one of many that Peter would take down in a montage at the start of the film.) But he also revealed that one villain he really wanted to do but missed out on would’ve been on Kraven the Hunter. “We were going to work that character into the next spiderman,said Raimi. Naturally, the peal of that villain came from his entire gimmick of being a big game hunter, one who could really be a test for Peter Parker’s dual identities. “He’s the ultimate hunter, and Spider-Man is like the most agile trickster of the skies. I thought that would be really unique.”

Now, Kraven is to be played by Aaron Taylor Johnson in his own solo movie due to be released next year. (So ​​it’s there probably one of the villains locked in for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.) But since Marvel and Sony seems to have no problem with multiple Spider-guys swinging around in different continuities, and Raimi’s flat out said he’s open to doing another one of these, maybe we could give Raimi a shot at directing something with Kraven in it? It does feel like something he’d ace, particularly in bringing the character’s physicality—either as a human or a big tiger man—to exciting life. If nothing else, it’d be interesting to see how his history with horror allow him to direct a character who’s scary for Spider-Man in a different way beyond weirdly elaborate technology and dripping fangs.


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