The Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters always seemed like a huge gamble, even if Venom managed to rake in over $850 million at the box office. After all, one hit is no guarantee that audiences will be willing to check out a continued series of Marvel Comics adaptations that don’t hail from Kevin Feige’s much more established franchise, especially when the majority of projects rumored to be in development focus on much lesser-known characters.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is still penciled in for release in June, but even then a sequel to the SPUMC’s only installment is hardly going to be a barometer of continued success, with the jury remaining well and truly out until Morbius finally arrives in January 2022. Kraven the Hunter is also in the works from Triple Frontier director J.C. Chandor, but if the flurry of recent reports are to be believed, then Sony are having some real trouble casting the lead.
Keanu Reeves was linked to the project, only for word to emerge that he’d already turned it down months ago, and now the latest addition to the rumor mill is claiming that Adam Driver has also said no. While not an obvious pick for the big game hunter, when you say it out loud, the idea of the two-time Academy Award nominee playing Kraven actually sounds like it could be an inspired left field choice.
However, after apparently rejecting the offer, the studio are back to the drawing board again. Karl Urban has been the subject of both fan campaigns and insider speculation, and at this rate, he’s the standout candidate for Kraven the Hunter if Reeves and Driver have indeed both turned down the opportunity.
