Spider-Man Far From Home Had the Perfect Way to Introduce Kraven (But Now Its Too Late)

Kraven The Hunter has floundered in its theatrical release, but Spider-Man: Far From Home could have been the perfect starting point for Spidey’s enemy. Kraven the Hunter arrived in cinemas as the closing chapter Sony’s Spider-Man Villain Universe. As with the rest of that franchise, the Web-Slinger was never invited into any of his own villain’s solo movies.

With Kraven being one of Spider-Man’s longest-standing and most formidable villains, the fate suffered by Kraven The Hunter is regrettable – especially since it was avoidable all along. 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home already provided the perfect setup for Kraven to battle Spidey in a far more exciting big-screen debut than Kraven The Hunter gave to the character.

Mysterio Framed Spidey For His Murder In Far From Home (But Could Have Gone Further)

Despite his death in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio took revenge on Peter Parker from beyond the grave by releasing a video to J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) revealing Spidey’s identity to the world. Mysterio went even further by shaping the video to make it look like Spider-Man had callously murdered a man many had come to see as a multiverse-traveling hero. With the Wall-Crawler now accused of murder, Sony could have taken the opportunity to make Mysterio’s smear campaign go even further with Spidey being linked to organized crime as a result.

This could have been implemented as either one more layer of Mysterio framing Spider-Man, or simply the media running with a narrative tarnishing Spidey as a villain. In either case, Spider-Man being slandered as a player in the criminal underworld would have made him a target of many eager to avenge Mysterio. In turn, this could have been how Sony introduced Kraven into the mix as one of many assassins targeting Spider-Man in the aftermath of Mysterio’s framing of Peter Parker.

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Kraven Could’ve Started Hunting Spider-Man After Mysterio Set Him Up

As a result of Spider-Man’s public vilification as Mysterio’s would-be murderer, Kraven would have the incentive to hunt down the Web-Head – especially with Kraven the Hunter portraying Sergei Kravenoff as a manhunter. Using the same basic portrayal of Kraven from his solo movie into the bridge between Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home could have made Kraven an active participant in the Spider-Man franchise with a similar persona and motivations as he eventually had in his own movie.

Of course, Kraven’s involvement at that point could also have significantly rewritten Sony’s overall Spider-Man franchise, beginning with his theoretical role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Bringing Kraven into the mix could have essentially brought the full-blown Sinister Six into play in No Way Home, depending on the extent of Kraven’s role. Alternatively, Kraven could also have been kept in reserve as the villain of Spider-Man 4, still on the hunt for Spider-Man (rather than just Peter Parker) as Mysterio’s killer, after Doctor Strange’s amnesia spell. The fact that Kraven instead went the route he did only highlights the biggest issue with Sony’s Universe of Spider-Man Villains.

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Kraven Is One Of Sony’s Biggest Missed Opportunities With Spider-Man Villains

Its fair to say that Sony’s Universe of Spider-Man Villains was an almost entirely directionless cinematic universe save for the Venom trilogy. It has also come to light that it never needed to be that way, with Sony always having had the option to include a version of Spider-Man in the franchise, per their contract with Marvel Studios. The fact that neither Spidey’s clairvoyant ally Madame Web nor any of Sony’s Spider-Man villains ever met Spider-Man himself (outside of Venom’s brief trip to the MCU where he spots Tom Holland’s Spidey on television) is a major fumble on Sony’s part. Kraven never being the ultimate hunter who is chasing Spidey is also one of the biggest unforced errors Sony’s made.

Kraven hunting Spider-Man in the urban landscape of New York City could have brought a Predator 2 quality to Kraven’s role as a Spidey nemesis. The admittedly impressive chases and fight scenes in Kraven the Hunter could have also been put to use in an actual Spider-Man movie, which would surely have raised his cinematic stock significantly compared to the immediate box office demise and terrible critical reception Kraven the Hunter ended up suffering. Kraven’s potential to give Spider-Man a run for his money is sadly one of the biggest examples of unfulfilled potential for Sony’s Spider-Man villains, especially with Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s ending showing that there was always a way to make it happen. Hopefully, Tom Hardy’s hopes for Venom to battle Spider-Man eventually pan out so that Sony’s Spider-Man Villain Universe doesn’t end up being a total loss.

Kraven The Hunter is now playing in theaters.