Sony Pictures has offered Keanu Reeves the role of Kraven the Hunter in the Spider-Man villain’s solo spin-off movie, according to a new report. Part of the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters home to Tom Hardy’s Venom and Jared Leto’s Morbius, Kraven is described as a “mashup” between R-rated action-dramas Man on Fire and Logan. Should Reeves accept the offer officially put out by Sony, ending the studio’s years-long hunt for its Sergei Kravinoff, it would mark the Matrix and John Wick franchise star’s first superhero movie role since portraying DC’s John Constantine in 2005’s Constantine.
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Sony has made an “official offer” to Reeves, but the starring role in Kraven is not a done deal, according to a report from The Illuminerdi.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, a creative lead and producer on Sony’s rebooted Spider-Man franchise set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, previously told ComicBook.com Marvel talks to Reeves “for almost every film we make.”
“I don’t know when, if, or ever he’ll join the MCU, but we very much want to figure out the right way to do it,” Feige said of Reeves in the 2019 interview. Feige added Jake Gyllenhaal was approached “multiple times” before signing on as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Recent rumors claimed Disney-owned Marvel Studios was eyeing Reeves to lead Moon Knight as Marc Spector, a role ultimately filled by Oscar Isaac in the upcoming Disney+ series. Reeves previously told Buzzfeed he “always wanted to play” Wolverine, the metal-clawed mutant from the X-Men franchise who has yet to appear in the MCU.
Ahead of Tom Holland’s first MCU-set Spider-Man solo in 2017, THR reported Sony was planning spin-offs for Kraven and Mysterio, who would menace the wall-crawler in 2019 sequel Far From Home. When Variety asked then-Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch about the rumored Kraven movie, Panitch said, “He’s an awesome character. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Last February, a reported casting grid revealed by The Illuminerdi described Kraven as a “maniacal big game hunter” specifically on the hunt for Spider-Man. Sony tapped The Equalizer scribe Richard Wenk to pen Kraven, previously reported to pull from famed comic book storyline Kraven’s Last Hunt. In August, Sony hired Triple Frontier filmmaker J.C. Chandor to direct Kraven.
Sony next releases Venom: Let There Be Carnage, planned to open in theaters on June 25, followed by the untitled Spider-Man 3 co-produced with Marvel Studios on December 17. Morbius, which features the return of Michael Keaton’s Spider-Man: Homecoming villain Adrian Toomes, is now set for January 21, 2022.
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