The first and most important thing to know is that Sony has decided that “Kraven The Hunter” will be their first R-rated Marvel movie. It’s a surprising move because Kraven is involved in the wider “Spider-Man” universe and so far, Sony has made sure their other Spidey spinoffs have been firmly PG-13. Both “Venom” movies and “Morbius” were more family-friendly in their ratings despite both characters having more R-rated potential. One’s an alien that loves to eat brains and the other is a literal vampire.
But “Kraven” is going brutal. Star Aaron Taylor-Johnson made the announcement via pre-recorded video to the CinemaCon audience before introducing the very first footage. Our own friendly neighborhood wordslinger Ben Pearson is on the ground and filled us in on what the first look footage looked like.
First off, Taylor-Johnson described Kraven as a “skilled, highly trained killer,” which is good because that’s his character in the comics. The action-heavy footage opened with Kraven rocking a leather vest, attacking a group of hunters in a truck. He bites the nose off of one and spits it directly at the camera. Another fight scene takes place in an apartment building in which he very inventively takes the long fang of a sabertooth tiger and impales a dude with it.
In the medley of violence, Kraven snaps a bear trap closed on some guy’s head, shoots another guy in the chest with a crossbow, leaps through the air at a flying helicopter, and throws a spear at another guy sitting in it. During some of this action, Taylor-Johnson is glimpsed running around on all fours.
