Kraven the Hunter: Aaron Taylor-Johnson To Play Spider-Man Villain In Solo Film

The long-rumored film centering on Spider-Man villain Kraven the Hunter is happening, and Sony has chosen its hunter, GameSpot has learned. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will don the fuzzy vest of Marvel's cunning hunter for a 2023 release date.

The film, titled Kraven the Hunter, is currently scheduled to hit theaters on January 13, 2023. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to comic book films; he played Quicksilver in Marvel Studios' Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the titular character in Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2. J.C. Chandor, best known for the Oscar Isaac film A Most Violent Year, will direct, while writing credits go to the duo of Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and to Richard Wenk. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce.

We were holding out hope for Jimmy Kimmel to play the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Kraven the Hunter is the latest member of Spidey's rogues gallery to get his own movie in the growing Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, which includes Venom, the upcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and the much-delayed Morbius film starring Jared Leto. Kraven the Hunter, born Sergei Kravinoff, is a big game hunter who fixates on Spider-Man. The character's most iconic story is 1987's Kraven's Last Hunt, in which he "killed" and buried Spider-Man and then impersonated the web-slinger for two weeks to prove that he was the superior hero. The story ended with Kraven leaving photographic proof of his time as Spider-Man for the police as a suicide note.

Kraven the Hunter is scheduled to hit theaters on January 13, 2023, about a year after Morbius, which releases on January 28, 2022. Unless it gets delayed again.