There’s a great variety of candidates for the part of Spidey’s most savage villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Spider-Man: Homecoming 3, but only one will don Kraven the Hunter‘s lion fur. The deranged Sergei Kravinoff has been part of Peter Parker’s classic gallery of villains for over half a century and starred in one of Marvel’s most highly acclaimed comic book storylines, Kraven’s Last Hunt. Now, he’s about to make his live-action debut in either the sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home or his own solo movie. Either way, Kraven will play a significant role in the MCU, possibly becoming the strongest link between Disney and Sony’s cinematic properties. As such, he needs the perfect actor to portray him.
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Kraven’s cinematic introduction is not a brand new idea. Back when Sony was planning on building an extended franchise around The Amazing Spider-Man, the maniacal hunter sat at the top of the list of Spidey villains that would get the solo treatment and assemble with the rest of the Sinister Six to fight Spider-Man in a future movie. Sony’s confidence in the now-altered plans went as far as adding a teaser montage for the Sinister Six to the end credits of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where Kraven’s symbol appeared for a split second. Sadly, Andrew Garfield’s adventures as the wall-crawler came to an end when the movie underperformed, but the subsequent deal between Disney and Sony brought the hero back home to the MCU and gave him a new chance to fight his most iconic villains on the big screen.
After Spider-Man made a heroic return in Captain America: Civil War with Tom Holland under the mask, he started his own series of movies and was honored with two of the most compelling villain performances in the whole franchise: Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Just like Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, these castings were a fan’s dream come true. Now it’s in Kraven’s hands to maintain that streak, and these are some of the options for who could play the character.
Robert Maillet
Known for portraying gargantuan characters like the blind cyclops Polyphemus in the disastrous Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and the Uber Immortal Giant in 300, former pro wrestler Robert Maillet possesses all of the physicality that Kraven the Hunter requires. The showmanship he displayed as the wrestler Kurrgan in the old WWF and his imposing presence could inject Kraven with the same appeal that Dave Bautista did with his standout performance as Drax the Destroyer.
It also doesn’t hurt that he’s the spitting image of the comic book character and that he has experience playing comparable characters, like lethal Russian ranger Aleksis Kaidonovsky in Pacific Rim. Although Maillet doesn’t have the long list of prominent roles that Hollywood veterans Michael Keaton and Jake Gyllenhaal are famous for, he could become a breakout star akin to Chris Hemsworth when the latter got cast as Thor. But as far as comic book accuracy goes, Robert Maillet is one of the most compatible choices. Spider-Man: Far From Home already introduced Kraven’s half-brother, Dimitri “The Chameleon” Smerdyakov (Numan Acar), and Maillet can easily pass as his brother.
Kristofer Hivju
Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju landed his first major movie role in the 2011 horror sequel to John Carpenter’s classic The Thing, where he played Jonas, one of the unfortunate scientists who are butchered by the titular monster. However, his most famous role came with Game of Thrones, in which he played the wild Free Folk fighter Tormund Giantsbane for six seasons. Even in the savage and extensive world of the HBO show, Hivju managed to stand out and portray Tormund as an especially brutal, humorous, and charismatic character - ferocious but always laser-focused on his goals.
Tormund’s outrageous claims of slaying giants and sleeping with bears are just icing on the top. If Kristofer Hivju were to join the MCU like his Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington – who will play the MCU’s Black Knight in the upcoming Eternals – he can have more freedom to play an offbeat character and explore the more intense side of an eccentric hunter in search of wild trophies. To top it off, The Fate of The Furious showed just how intimidating Kivju looks as a rifle-wielding villain.
Sharlto Copley
The sheer acting range that South African actor Sharlto Copley has exhibited over the years makes him a strong candidate for the role of Kraven the Hunter on dramatic skills alone. Copley always fully transforms into the character he’s playing, as evidenced by the degree of humanity he instills in the titular robot in Chappie, the anguish he depicts in the tragic downfall from awkward bureaucrat into an oppressed alien in District 9, and the fear he inspires as an unstoppable mercenary in Elysium.
Copley is also one of those actors who can become unrecognizable from one role to the next, even without having to put on any makeup or CGI to accomplish it. Adding his portrayal of King Stefan in Maleficent as a cruel, paranoid tyrant who’s hellbent on hunting down those who oppose him, Copley has already covered every dramatic quality that makes Kraven a multilayered character. Playing part of Spider-Man 3’s Sinister Six cast could be Copley’s opportunity to incorporate all of these traits into one complex performance and finally snag the prominent Hollywood role he has long been so close to attaining.
Najwa Nimri
If Sony is aiming for the dramatic intensity of Kraven’s Last Hunt, it’s going to take an actor who’s able to accurately depict Kraven’s inner turmoil to achieve it. After all, Kraven is a hunter because he desperately needs to triumph over his prey to feel validated. Most importantly, his live-action counterpart must have the ability to take a sharp turn toward the tragic conflict of a desolate murderer who can’t escape his own trail of blood to become a better person. One glance at Locked Up is enough to see that Najwa Nimri has already proven herself more than capable of those attributes. If not a gender-bent Sergei Kravinoff, Sony and Disney can adapt his daughter Ana Kravinoff to become the official Kraven the Hunter, just like the MCU positioned Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) as Ant-Man and left Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) as his mentor.
Luke Evans
Along with Keanu Reeves and John Krasinski, Luke Evans is one of the many high-profile actors that inspires heavy comic book movie casting discussion for both Marvel and DC fans. In fact, Evans aura is so often that he has become a consistent nominee for various comic book roles over the years. Sinestro, Marvel’s Hercules, and Namor are some of the names that come up the most, but his portrayal of Gaston in the 2017 adaptation of Beauty and the Beast revealed an undeniable resemblance to Kraven the Hunter that places him among the most popular candidates for the Spider-Man villain. It’s not only the fact that he played an envious hunter in the Disney movie, but his portrayal also supplied Gaston with an extra layer of playful perversity that enriched the cocky antagonist.
Ever since he played the Greek god Apollo in Clash of the Titans, Luke Evans has been alternating between heroic and malevolent roles. Characters such as Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit trilogy, and Vlad the Impaler in Dracula Untold are ample evidence that, although he evokes the image of certain kind of devious characters, Evans remains far away from the typecast curse. On top of that, his work proves he can play the anti-heroic side of the character, which makes Kraven the Hunter the perfect option for Spider-Man 3’s villain. That could well make Kraven Evans’ first and definitive comic book role.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Of all the aforementioned actors, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the one who has the closest relationship with comic book movies. Some of his famous roles have been The Comedian in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, Negan in The Walking Dead, and Thomas Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He’s known for playing tough, no-nonsense renegades with the same intensity that he plays an unhinged psychopath, and roles like the hunter John Winchester in the TV show Supernatural or the heart patient Denny Duquette in Grey‘s Anatomy prove he can easily walk the line between good and evil characters.
Like Luke Evans, Morgan is a regular suggestion among the fans when it comes to comic book movie castings. Before Ben Affleck’s Batman was wasted in the DCEU and the actor left, Morgan would probably have played the alternate-universe Flashpoint Batman later down the line, but Warner Bros.’ inclination toward Michael Keaton left the Walking Dead actor free to pursue other superhero projects. In a way, history would repeat itself, since Kraven’s Last Hunt writer John Marc DeMatteis originally pitched the story to DC with Batman and the Joker as the protagonists before getting rejected and taking the project to Marvel, where it became one of Spider-Man’s most celebrated stories. Could the same happen with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Kraven casting?
Any of these actors could face off against Tom Holland in the MCU’s Spider-Man: 3 or the villain’s solo movie, but Disney and Sony can always come up with a surprise decision. The role of Kraven The Hunter is a coveted one, with big names such as Joe Manganiello stating that Kraven is his dream role. Colossus actor Stefan Kapičić has also shown interest in playing the part, and the end of the DCEU’s original plans and Fox’s X-Men franchise means both of these candidates can make the jump into the MCU much more easily. Spidey’s best cinematic era is just around the corner, particularly if Spider-Man’s best story – Kraven’s Last Hunt – is included in the MCU, and so is the fortunate actor who will bring the sinister hunter to life.
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- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Feb 11, 2022
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- Captain Marvel 2 (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022