Kraven the Hunter Sets Disney Plus Streaming Date

Sony Pictures released three movies in its Spider-Man Universe during 2024: Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter. Critics panned all three releases, and only the third Venom film avoided bombing at the box office. After grossing just $62 million globally, the Aaron Taylor-Johnson vehicle effectively ended the franchise.

Following its streaming stint on Netflix, Kraven the Hunter arrives on Disney Plus on Sept. 13.

The release nearly rounds out Disney’s catalog of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe titles. Disney Plus subscribers can already stream Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and Madame Web. Venom: The Last Dance will also transition from Netflix to Disney Plus soon. Sony’s core Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland are already available on the service.

Why Kraven the Hunter is worth watching on Disney Plus

The Venom films deliver goofy action, while Madame Web struggles on almost every level. Kraven the Hunter stands apart as a far more perplexing production. Instead of portraying Kraven as a hunter determined to best Spider-Man, Taylor-Johnson plays him as a street vigilante fighting criminals. During pre-release interviews, the actor described his character as an apex predator, a “protector of the natural world,” and an “animal lover.”

The movie incorporates several characters connected to the Spider-Man canon. Fred Hechinger plays the Chameleon, Ariana DeBose portrays Calypso as both an attorney and a voodoo practitioner, and Russell Crowe appears with a Russian accent. Alessandro Nivola takes on the role of Aleksei Sytsevich, also known as the Rhino. Nivola’s bizarre interpretation follows Paul Giamatti’s mechanical-suit version from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The production faced numerous delays, rewrites, and the fundamental challenge of building a Spider-Man villain film without Spider-Man. The finished 122-minute runtime reflects those choices, securing a 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The project also prevented director Ryan Coogler from using Kraven in his Black Panther films.

The movie offers an early comic book performance from Christopher Abbott before his appearance as Professor Charles Xavier in Marvel Studios’ upcoming X-Men project. In Kraven, Abbott plays the Foreigner, an assassin with the power to slow time through hypnosis.

As Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed $2 billion worldwide and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse targets a 2027 launch with early previews underway, Kraven the Hunter remains a clear look at where Sony’s spinoff universe lost its footing.

Source: Polygon