Christopher Abbott Cast as Main Villain in Kraven the Hunter

Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff Kraven the Hunter has added actor Christopher Abbott as what is reportedly the film’s main villain, The Foreigner. The character is a Marvel Comics villain who originated in 1980s Spider-Man comics – Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #115 to be exact. Foreigner was an elite assassin and mercenary, who also has ties to other prominent characters from the Spider-Man Universe that Sony has been toying with for live-action: Silver Sable and Black Cat. The character also has the power to induce a 10-second hypnotic trance in a victim, simply by making eye contact with them. 

Christopher Abbott had a breakout role in Geroge Clooney’s TV mini-series version of Catch-22, earning the actor a Golden Globe nomination. He got his first movie role starring opposite Marvel star Elizabeth Olsen in her debut film Martha Marcy May Marlene and has earned acclaim for dark performances in films like Brandon Cronenberg’s mind-bending thriller Possessor, and the indie horror hit It Comes At Night. 

Clearly, Foreigner is the kind of opponent that would give Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter both a physical and strategic challenge. The way the cast of the film is shaping up (see below), it’s feeling more and more like the plot of Kraven the Hunter could see the titular tracker/hunter in some sort of competition with other spies and/or assassins for some kind of prize. The Foreigner would definitely be one of Kraven’s most dangerous opponents – and form the sound of things, possibly the “boss battle” character of the film. 

The other possibility is that Kraven could be stacking up an entirely new league of villains for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe franchise – a clandestine organization that could reach across other SSU films like Morbius, or the Madame Web movie. Indeed, that’s the larger question that a lot of Marvel fans are asking: where does Kraven The Hunter fit into Marvel Multiverse order, and which Spider-Man actor (Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland) will he eventually meet in a future film? 

Kraven the Hunter has recently cast a number of big roles, with West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose playing Calypso; Russell Crowe reportedly playing Kraven’s father; The White Lotus star Fred Hechinger playing Kraven’s half-brother Chameleon, and The Many Saints of Newark star Alessandro Nivola playing a mystery Marvel villain.

Kraven the Hunter is currently scheduled to hit theaters on January 13, 2023.

Source: Deadline