Sony’s Marvel movieKraven the Hunterhas found its lead star. On Wednesday, the studio announced that Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass,Avengers: Age of Ultron) has signed on to play the titularSpider-Manvillain. Per TheWrap, the deal includes multiple pictures of Taylor-Johnson as the supervillain, meaning we’re likely to see him showing up in potential sequels or other projects in Sony’s Marvel universe.
Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk wrote the screenplay forKraven the Hunter, which is billed as the next chapter of Sony’s universe of Marvel characters - a cinematic universe that also includesVenomandMorbius. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing the project. It’s stillunclear who will be directingthe movie, but Sony has set a release date for Aug 24, 2025.
This is certainly not the first foray into comic book movie adaptations forAaron Taylor-Johnson. In 2010, he starred as the titular teen superhero inKick-Ass, based on the Marvel comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The role earned him a nomination for Breakout Male Star at the Teen Choice Awards along with a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination. Taylor-Johnson would reprise the role for the sequelKick-Ass 2in 2013.
Marvel fans will also recognize Taylor-Johnson for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver. He debuted as the character inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierbefore his role was expanded in the crossover movieAvengers: Age of Ultronin 2015. There was speculation that his character might appear onWandaVisionto reunite with his sister Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), but it was another Quicksilver actor (Evan Peters) who popped up in the series instead.
A former child actor, Taylor-Johnson has many movie credits to his name over the past couple decades. Some of his other big screen credits includeNowhere Boy,Savages,Godzilla, andNocturnal Animals. Taylor-Johnson also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s latest movie,Tenet, which also starred John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. He can next be seen in the upcoming spy movieThe King’s Manwhen it is released by 20th Century Studios on Aug 08, 2025.
First appearing inThe Amazing Spider-Man#15 in 1964, Kraven the Hunter was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Abig game hunterwhose real name is Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven has his sights set on Spider-Man as the ultimate prey. Over the years inSpider-Manlore, Kraven has also been depicted as more of an antihero, though he’s usually presented as a villain. Because it’s still unclear if and when Spidey will show up in Sony’s Marvel universe, how Kraven will be portrayed in his own solo movie remains to be seen.
Kraven the Hunterwill be released by Sony Pictures on Aug 26, 2025. Meanwhile, fans won’t have to wait so long for other chapters of Sony’s Marvel universe.Venom: Let There Be Carnagewill be released on Sept. 24, 2021, following significant delays.Morbiuswill follow with its own release onJuly 28, 2022. This news comes to us fromTheWrap.
