Aaron Taylor-Johnson will head back into the world of Marvel next year with Kraven the Hunter, but it’s. not his first time being part of a major blockbuster. The actor had major roles in Kick-Ass, Godzilla, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. But while a string of films like that might be some actors’ dream, Taylor-Johnson told Esquire (via Uproxx) that for him, it was quite the opposite — and he opened up that he “didn’t give a f-ck” about being in blockbusters. Taylor-Johnson explained that for him, what he really wanted to do at the time was be at home with his kids.
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“All those things lined up for me. But I didn’t really care for them,” Taylor-Johnson said, explaining that he was up for roles “that nobody knows about — big, huge franchises that were in play.”
“I wanted, purely, to be with my babies,” Taylor-Johnson said. “I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like.”
He added, “I also slightly didn’t give a f-ck.”
The actor did say that in the years since, things have changed quite a bit and that he’s now in a place where he’s ready to take things like Kraven the Hunter on.
“I mean, quite honestly, I thought I’d actually been done with these sorts of movies,” he said. “You can’t step into this role, you can’t step into what this franchise is, with a f-cking half-assed, let’s see how it goes attitude. You have to be mentally prepared for what could come with that. I think I’m secure in my life now to know that I’m happy to deal with that.”
What Is Kraven the Hunter About?
In Kraven the Hunter, Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. The film will star Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven, Arana DeBose as Calypso, and Fred Heichinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon. Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, Russell Crowe, and Levi Miller have been cast in currently unknown roles.
“He is a hunter and from that world of hunting and there’s so many aspects,” Taylor-Johnson told ComicBook.com in an interview last year. “What I love about that character is that what is he humanizing is that he has flaws, right? Kraven is a beautiful character. Sergei Kravinov is a beautiful character because it’s someone who’s really understanding themselves and has flaws. This is a character that was built ages ago and it’s in a new time and era, but yeah, is he going to be the hunter that we all want to see? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.”
Kraven the Hunter Has Been Described as A “Tragedy Film”
Director J.C. Chandor previously told Esquire that while Kraven the Hunter is part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the film is also a tragedy, one on the level of drama fitting to the character’s origin.
“Sony probably doesn’t want me to lead with this,” Chandor told Esquire, “but the story is a tragedy. When the final credits roll on this film, if you’ve been paying attention, you won’t have the feeling that this is all going to end great.”
Kraven the Hunter is set for release on August 30, 2024.
