Let’s Talk About Wild Spider-Man’s Connection to Kraven the Hunter

Even more movies it has been bad to very badit’s a shame Kraven the Hunter ready to be the last non-Spider-Man movie Sony Spider-Man Universe. After Morbius, Madame Weband three Conspiracy movies failed to do much, Kraven the Hunter it’s so full of Spider-Man that you can see the path to the Webslinger starting to form. A path that, now, is unlikely to be followed. So, with this movie in theaters, let’s talk about Spider-Man’s connections and ideas that have been created. Kraven the Hunter.

We are about to enter something big Essentials spoilers so if you want to see a movie, time to look away.

One of the biggest things, both figurative and literal, associated with Spider-Man in the Essentials and Rhino. Rhino, like Kraven, is one of Spider-Man’s most famous characters and has appeared The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Here, Rhino is the main villain of the film, a criminal (played by Alessandro Nivola) who wants to take the place of Kraven’s father, Nikolai Kravinoff, played by Russell Crowe.

Rhino, real name Aleksei Sytsevich, explains that he can become Rhino because of the procedure he did in New York with a doctor named Miles Warren. We’ll have much, much more on Warren later this week but he’s a staple of Marvel Comics and Spidey’s home in New York. (Many of Essentials is placed outside.) Then, at the end of the film, we learn that Kraven’s brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) went to a doctor in New York for treatment and can now change his body into other people. He is Chameleon, a name he mentioned earlier in the film due to his ability to impersonate humans. He doesn’t say it was Warren who did it, but Dmitri was the person Rhino told about Warren—so, we can assume he was.

So that’s just the beginning. Three potential members of the Sinister Six—Kraven, Rhino, and Chameleon, two of whom were created by the same mad scientist. And sure, the Rhino dies in the movie, but that’s the world of comic books. What does death mean?

More than three main Spidey characters inside Essentialsthere are also two smaller ones. First up is Calypso, played by Ariana DeBose. Calypso is the person who gave Kraven his powers thanks to a secret medicine from his grandfather; Later, we learn that he is a self-taught assassin, learning the art of archery at “summer camp.” He’s a good guy in this movie but, then again, so is Kraven.

There is also the Outsider, played by Christopher Abbot. In the game, the Alien is an assassin/soldier, and here he has incredible powers of hypnosis. However, they are hired by Rhino to find Kraven and when they do, they give him a poison that scares someone into surrendering by revealing their greatest fear. Kraven’s fear is, drum roll please, spiders. We see spiders begin to crawl all over the body and descend from the sky. It’s pretty lame that a guy who fights lions and tigers and bears (oh my) would be afraid of spiders—but, you know, Spider-Man.

So that’s FIVE Spider-Man villains in the movie and the actual spider link. Are there others? Where. The video covers the Daily Bugle twice, once online and the second time when the Visitor brings a copy to a meeting to express his frustrations with Kraven. (Kraven killed his unnamed criminal boss but the paper calls him a “hit man.”) These are more Spider-Man references and while there’s no clear road leading to Spider-Man, it’s clearly a foundation. . More than that Morbius, Venom, or Madam Web he said again.

Kraven the Hunter then ended with Chameleon criticizing his brother for being as bad as he or their father was. And, in the final shot, he wears his trademark lion coat. Is Kraven finally embracing the fact that he is a killer? Perhaps the second film would have seen the one investigated by the brothers fighting in New York. An event that can be explained by the Daily Bugle and, possibly, a brave new artist named Peter Parker. Maybe he will cross paths with the blind counselor, Cassandra Web, or the famous doctor, Michael Morbius. Maybe another reporter, Eddie Brock, would have been in town at the time. See where this would all go? Alas, Essentials it could be.

And no, there are no post-credit scenes. Kraven the Hunter it is now in theaters.

Want more io9 news? See when to expect new updates Amazing, Star Warsand Star Trek output, which is coming to DC Universe on film and TVand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.