Sony Plotting Kraven The Hunter Movie With Screenwriter Richard Wenk

You can go ahead and add Sergei Kravinoff’s name to the list of Spider-Man villains destined for the big screen.

Collider is reporting today that Richard Wenk (The Equalizer 2) has climbed aboard to hash out a script for Kraven the Hunter, which looks set to become the latest Sony-backed Spidey spinoff alongside Venom, Silk, Silver & Black, Nightwatch and the Jared Leto-fronted vampire movie, Morbius.

All of these projects are currently hinging on Venom‘s potential success – or lack thereof – as Sony Pictures may well be staring down the face of a Dark Universe-like situation come October where their franchise-starter flops spectacularly, only to raise serious question marks over future installments.

But that’s the glass-half-empty scenario; Sony is beginning to develop a Kraven the Hunter movie sans Spider-Man, who is still tied up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That leaves Wenk facing the somewhat difficult task of introducing Kraven (real name: Sergei Kravinoff) to the movie world for the very first time, as this is a character who has eluded the big screen for years.

Black Panther‘s Ryan Coogler initially wanted to include Kraven in his Afrocentric epic, but it soon became clear that Sony Pictures had plans of its own.

Because make no mistake, as Collider points out, Venom really is the litmus test for the studio’s fledgling Marvel Universe. Chances are the anti-hero pic will stick with its PG-13 audience, but if it underperforms, there’s a good chance Sony may take a leaf out of Deadpool‘s book and begin to experiment with R-rated pics – like, say, Kraven the Hunter – further down the road.

Alas, it’s too soon to tell. The only thing we know at this point is that Venom will be the first domino to fall on October 5th.