Regardless of what the studio insists on calling it internally, Sony's Spider-Man Universe of live-action features will always be better known as 'those Spider-Man spinoffs where Spider-Man never shows up for legal reasons.' This reflects the studio's struggle to create a franchise without its titular hero.
Though none of Sony's Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movies have been sterling pieces of cinema, the goopy, slapstick romance of the Venom series was a surprise delight. This indicates some potential in future projects, despite repeated setbacks.
The movie's R-rating and trailers suggested that Sony wanted to go darker while reframing Kraven as a gruesome antihero. However, the execution fails to deliver on this promise and feels like a disappointing addition in the franchise.
Kraven the Hunter feels the tiniest bit like a Spider-Man subplot as it introduces you to Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Russian big game hunter who finds himself locked up in a remote prison. This illustrates the film's disconnect from the broader universe it aims to inhabit.
Collection
[
|
...
]