Superhero movies are, almost always, PG-13 fare meant to appeal to the widest possible audience of kids and grown-up kids. A few notable exceptions, though, like Logan, Joker, and Deadpool, have sported an R rating. Spider-Man spin-off film Kraven the Hunter will join the ranks of R-rated superhero movies when it releases, Sony Pictures revealed Monday at CinemaCon 2023.
Alongside the MPA rating, we got a teaser for the movie. Game hunters at a wildlife preserve find themselves under attack, not by a lion, but by a man named Sergei Kravinoff–Kraven the Hunter. (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) There’s stabbing, blood, and Kraven even bites the nose off of one of the hunters before spitting it at the camera. The whole thing feels inspired by John Wick’s brutal but efficient action. Kraven closes a bear trap on a guy’s face.
Kraven pulls his iconic furry chest piece out of a box, and we see Marvel villain The Rhino briefly, getting his rhinoceros skin as his arm begins to grow hide on it. Kraven is being positioned, like Venom, as an antihero. Kraven believes he murders for good, but someone tells him that despite thinking he has a code, he’s just a guy looking for a trophy.
Kraven the Hunter stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular Kraven, and Russell Crowe as his father. J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) is directing a screenplay written by Art Marcum (Iron Man, Uncharted), Matt Halloway (Iron Man, Uncharted), and Richard Wenk (The Expendables, The Equalizer). Kraven the Hunter will be released in theaters on October 6, 2023.
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