Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is nearly at $1.9 billion worldwide, and the two “Venom” films account for $1.3 billion in total, establishing that audiences are hungry for the studio’s splinter cinematic universe. Next up for the studio after “Morbius” in their Spider-Verse is “Kraven The Hunter,” the next villain to receive the solo film treatment.
Quite the cast is forming around the film. Another high-profile casting has been made by director J.C. Chandor (“Triple Frontier”), as Deadline reports that Alessandro Nivola has been selected to play an unnamed villain in the new Marvel Comics film. Nivola recently played Dickie Montesanti in the “Sopranos” prequel film “The Many Saints of Newark” and isn’t a stranger to blockbusters appearing in “Jurassic Park III” alongside Sam Neill, closing out the original trilogy.
This movie will be a reunion as Nivola worked with Chandor on the crime drama “A Most Violent Year.”
READ MORE: Russell Crowe Joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Marvel/Sony Film
Kraven is a Russian big game hunter and part of Spider-Man’s original stable of rogues; he’s also crossed paths with Venom and Black Panther in the comics. Kraven is also a vital member of The Sinister Six, the super-villain team that almost got their own film directed by Drew Goddard before Marvel Studios rebooted Spidey with Tom Holland.
Other prominent cast members include the Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Tenet”) playing Kraven himself, Oscar-nominee Ariana Debose (“West Side Story”) as Haitian voodoo priestess Calypso, Fred Hechinger (“White Lotus”) as Kraven’s half-brother The Chameleon, and Oscar-winner Russell Crowe (“American Gangster”).
The outlet doesn’t mention Nivola’s character, but there is a chance that the mobsters from the comics could be explored at some point as there are New York City crime families alongside Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin connected to the Spider-Man universe. One character that might be a neat possibility is Hammerhead, a member of the Maggia; the Spidey franchise gangster could be altered slightly (Russian mafia?) to have him connected directly to Kraven for the solo film. I guess we’ll have to be patient to find out who Nivola is actually playing.
“Kraven The Hunter” aims to hit theaters on January 13, 2023.