When it comes to the superhero movies of 2023, he often falls behind: Marvel hunter Kraven the Hunter. But while everyone is waiting spellbound for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Flash, the Marvel project is attracting attention not only with the top-class staff, but with the Promise of a high age rating and a first presentation of excerpts. They sound pretty Marvel-unusual and brutal.
Info 1: Kraven the Hunter gets what Tom Hardy’s Venom was forbidden
At the industry trade fair Cinemacon there was a presentation of the first trailer for the Marvel film, which will be released later this year. The main actor and current favorite for the recast of James Bond, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, was asked about the age rating. His clear answer:
Will it be rated R? F*ck yes, it’s going to be rated R.
In plain English: Kraven the Hunter is so brutal that it will likely receive an R rating in the US, which means it is 16+. That’s exactly what many comic fans wanted for the two Venom films with Tom Hardy and Jared Leto’s Morbius, which go bloody to the point in the templates. However, the films were given a PG-13 rating, so they were officially child-friendly.
Sony
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Bullet Train
If the rating proves true, Kraven the Hunter will be the first Marvel feature film to be rated R since Deadpool 2 (2018). It remains to be seen whether he will then receive an FSK-16 or a release from the age of 18 in Germany.
Info 2: In the teaser trailer things get down to business
Kraven the Hunter is a superhuman big game hunter in the comics, but considers himself more of a nature lover and animal rights activist in the film version.
Marvel Comics
Kraven the Hunter
The teaser trailer descriptions at Deadline and Hollywood Reporter sound correspondingly beastly and quite juicy. According to the deadline Kraven bites off the nose of a mercenary/poacher right at the start and spits a piece of skin towards the camera lens, as the THR notes. More tidbits from the descriptions (the trailer hasn’t been released yet):
Russell Crowe plays Kraven’s father and helps him in flashbacks to Making contact with the spirit of a dead cow.
Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) plays Kraven’s brother, Chameleon
Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III) plays Spider-Man villain The Rhino, the same character Paul Giamatti took on in The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro.
Ariana DeBose as voodoo priestess Calypso doesn’t seem convinced by Kraven: “You’re a fucking lunatic”she holds out to him in the teaser.
Is the superhero movie part of the MCU?
Kraven the Hunter is not part of the MCU, but to Sony’s own little Marvel universe. In it, characters from the Spider-Man comics are given solo films. Tom Hardy’s Venom was first, then Jared Leto’s vampire Morbius followed. Kraven will now be the third in the group.
Whether Kraven the Hunter offers more than bitten off noses and cow ghosts, we will find out on October 5, 2023. Then the film will start in German cinemas. Directed by JC Chandor (All is Lost).
Meanwhile, we’re still awaiting confirmation of Daniel Craig’s successor in the role of James Bond. If you can’t imagine Taylor-Johnson in the role, you should watch Tenet and Bullet Train again.