At the world premiere of ‘Kraven the Hunter’ in New York, Ariana DeBose, who plays Calypso alongside Kraven, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, had a clear message for Marvel.
“This is meant to be a standalone film and an origin story, but I do think Kraven deserves that epic showdown with Spider-Man,” DeBose told Variety on Tuesday night at AMC Lincoln Square 13. “There’s literally a whole comic about it. Give the people what they want. I think they should do that. And if there’s space for Calypso and Kraven’s journey, then great!”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson also discussed his upcoming film ‘Kraven the Hunter’ in an interview with Screen Rant, hinting at a potential cinematic face-off between his villain and Spider-Man.
When asked if Kraven needs to fight the Marvel hero to wrap up his story, Taylor-Johnson said, “I mean, it’s very much the question that everyone else really, right? Because I think what we’ve done, what we’ve set up in this story is a really rich character that definitely has the legs to go on and do more damage. I think he should go toe-to-toe with some superheroes that we know.”
As Sony reportedly shifts focus from solo supervillain movies to projects placing Spider-Man front and center, Johnson seems open to the team-up as well. The ‘Kraven the Hunter’ star even caught Tom Holland’s stage performance in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ earlier this year, fueling speculation about a possible team-up.
“The last time I spoke to Tom was backstage of his theater production, ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ and I gotta tell you, he was fantastic,” Johnson told Variety of Holland’s turn as Romeo. “That guy is a phenomenal actor, and I’d be happy to work with him any day.”
According to Holland himself, Kraven was originally intended to be the villain of his third solo outing before the movie morphed into the multiverse crossover event ‘Spider-Man: The Way Home.’
“[Director] Jon [Watts] pitched me this Kraven movie, which actually was really cool,” Holland said at the time. “I don’t want to talk about it in case that movie ends up happening down the line, but it was fun.”
Watts and Holland aren’t the only ones championing the concept. ‘Kraven the Hunter’ director JC Chandor has expressed interest in ending Kraven’s story by exploring Kraven’s Last Hunt, a Marvel Comics storyline in which the big-game hunter becomes obsessed with proving himself superior to Spider-Man.
