Yesterday brought reports that Keanu Reeves had been offered a part in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters’ Kraven the Hunter, which is set to be directed by Triple Frontier‘s J.C. Chandor. And while the 56 year-old action icon had been approached for the title role, the legendary big game hunter just doesn’t feel like an obvious fit for the actor’s established screen persona.
There was plenty of speculation last year that Sergei Kravinoff was on his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to track down the fugitive Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3, but the multiverse seemed to draw a line under that. It’s unclear what the character’s upcoming solo outing will bring us, but Chandor is a solid filmmaker that’s delivered strong work in a variety of genres including financial thriller Margin Call, survival drama All is Lost and crime story A Most Violent Year, making him an intriguingly exciting choice to helm a big budget superhero pic with a bad guy in the lead.
Of course, Keanu Reeves is almost guaranteed to show up in a Marvel blockbuster at some stage in the near future, but Kraven the Hunter shouldn’t be it. Instead, fans have named Karl Urban as their preferred candidate to bring the character into live-action for the first time, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Listen I love Keanu Reeves but Karl Urban would be an excellent choice to play Kraven and I’m prepared to die alone on this hill pic.twitter.com/nMM0zFo9FL
— Nerd Girl Says (@Rachael_Conrad) February 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/1358865487745011712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1358865487745011712%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.small-screen.co.uk%2Ffans-think-karl-urban-should-play-kraven-the-hunter%2F
https://twitter.com/MorganlBrooks/status/1358902452758712321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1358902452758712321%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.small-screen.co.uk%2Ffans-think-karl-urban-should-play-kraven-the-hunter%2F
I would ADORE Karl Urban as Kraven. That would be so fun
— Austin Lee Matthews (@amtraxVA) February 8, 2021
Look, I love Keanu – And I'll be thrilled to see him as Kraven if that happens. But I can't help but think my first picks for that would have been Karl Urban or Dominic Cooper.
— Josh Smith (@Mordaith) February 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/IWriteAllDay_/status/1358869492575719428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1358869492575719428%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.small-screen.co.uk%2Ffans-think-karl-urban-should-play-kraven-the-hunter%2F
Literally Karl Urban is the utmost perfect choice for the role of Kraven. He can play that smug no fucks given character with ease I can't think of a role where he's not playing a character with those traits, anyone who watched The Boys can truly agree.
— 𝓛𝓮𝓸 (@Dubrarri) February 9, 2021
i love keanu reeves w all my heart, but karl urban DESERVES that kraven role
— joe sue (@joe_sue00) February 9, 2021
As much as I love Keanu Reeves, I’d rather someone more over the top to be Kraven the Hunter like Karl Urban or even Pedro Pascal
— Saint Judas Iscariot (@Saint_lscariot) February 8, 2021
No offense to Keanu but I just don’t see him playing Kraven. I’m thinking Karl Urban as Kraven would be better
— Jp721 (@Jp721jr) February 9, 2021
Urban is no stranger to the comic book genre having appeared in RED, Priest, Dredd and Thor: Ragnarok, while he was frequently linked with Batman before both Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson were cast, and that’s without even mentioning The Boys‘ Billy Butcher. Scott Adkins is apparently also chasing the role, and while the martial artist certainly has the physicality to pull it off, Urban would be a much bigger name in the eyes of the studio, but we’ll just have to wait and see who ends up as the SPUMC’s Kraven the Hunter.
