Russell Crowe is set to join another superhero franchise as the New Zealand-born Australian actor is boarding Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man spinoff film, Kraven the Hunter. Following the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony Pictures is pushing forward with its Spider-Man universe. After several delays, Morbius, starring Jared Leto, will finally be arriving in April as Marvel’s famous vampire come to life on the big screen. As they continue to flesh out their cinematic universe, Sony is eying a few other Spider-Man-related characters. Recently the studio reportedly tapped Dakota Johnson in the upcoming Madame Web film, which is being directed by S.J. Clarkson.

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Another huge Spider-Man character that is getting their live-action debut is Kraven the Hunter, who will be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. After having portrayed Quicksilver in the MCU, the actor is getting another go at playing an iconic Marvel character. The movie was first developed in 2018 before Taylor-Johnson boarded the project, which will be directed by J.C. Chandor. Since the initial casting, there have been no new updates on the upcoming Sony film, which is set to come out in 2023.

Almost a year later, Kraven the Hunter has finally started adding new cast members, with THR revealing that Russell Crowe is joining the latest Spider-Man spinoff film. While his character is being kept under wrap, Crowe is reportedly going to play one of Kraven’s family members, possibly his father. Crowe’s Kraven the Hunter gig is now the second Marvel role as he will be joining the MCU later this year in Thor: Love and Thunder as Zeus. The actor is also known to the DC crowd as Jor-El in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

While Kraven the Hunter has been portrayed in various animated Spider-Man projects, they have never really explored his family life that much. With the Sony film being the character’s live-action debut, it makes sense to include his relatives in some capacity. Even though Kraven is known amongst Spider-Man fans, the average movie-goer is likely going to get introduced to this character for the first time through Taylor-Johnson’s movie. Therefore it’s a solid move of Kraven the Hunter’s creative team to make his family part of the story in order to allow the titular antihero to be fully fleshed out.

With someone as established and talented as Crowe, it’s only a bonus for Kraven the Hunter to add such an actor of his caliber. Since the project is looking to start shooting this year, it means more casting news are on their way. The bigger question is what other players the film will feature aside from Kraven himself. It wouldn’t be shocking if at least one of the other characters they add is Calypso, who is his love interest in the comics. As Sony continues to build out its Spider-Man universe, it will be exciting to see where Kraven the Hunter goes as more details begin to emerge.

Source: THR

Key Release Dates
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  • Kraven the Hunter (2023)Release date: Jan 13, 2023
  • Morbius (2022)Release date: Apr 01, 2022
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Andy Behbakht
(1045 Articles Published)

Andy is a senior writer at Screen Rant as he has covered the world of entertainment journalism since 2010, including superhero/comic book media. In addition to his work as a reporter, Andy co-hosts The Flash Podcast while running and producing the entire DC TV Podcasts network. He is also the founder/editor-in-chief of The Marvel Report since Fall 2015. Andy has previously written for sites such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It’s Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more.

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