Kraven Is No Joker
If anything, this film could be Sony’s knee-jerk reaction to Warner Bros.’ Joker movie. The Todd Phillips-helmed project is getting a lot of attention for all the right reasons and the hype is real ever since Joaquin Phoenix was announced as the Clown Prince of Crime, along with a cast featuring Robert De Niro and Marc Maron.
Likely, the Sony execs saw this excitement and wanted in on a piece of the action. Obviously, some bright spark suggested Kraven as the studio’s answer to the Ace of Knaves. But unfortunately, he isn’t. He isn’t even one of the top five Spidey villains, so why should the average Joe care about him?
The Joker’s an iconic character that’s widely known and celebrated in popular culture. Go up to any person on the street around the world and ask them if they know who Mr. J is and there’s a good chance they’ll be familiar with the villain. Do the same for Kraven and most will think he’s some kind of caravan brand.
Think about it another way: Venom hasn’t convinced the doubters yet, and he’s certainly a more popular character than Kraven ever was. So, what makes Sony think that a film about a lesser-known villain to the mainstream audience will be any different?
Venom Might End It Before It Begins
Speaking of Eddie Brock, there’s a cautious optimism about the forthcoming film. The trailers have gotten progressively better, but there’s still a sense that it could go either way. Much of its success will rely on how the audience receives his newly tweaked origin, since Spider-Man seems unlikely to play a part here. Honestly, there are still too many questions about how this spinoff Spiderverse will exist without Spidey playing a prominent role.
As such, everyone involved in the Kraven movie must be keeping a close eye on how Venom does. If it bombs at the box office, you can bet your bottom dollar that the other planned productions will be quietly canned.
The mere fact that Sony’s basing its future Spiderverse on one project shows there’s already an uncertainty here. What’s the plan? Well, right now, it looks like a spray-and-pray approach, seeing what sticks and taking it from there if it does. This isn’t a good sign that we’re in store for a cohesive universe.
Additionally, the lure of the cinematic universe concept is slowing down – except for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – with even Star Wars struggling to fill cinema seats with Solo: A Star Wars Story. So, what makes Sony think an obscure character like Kraven will bring the audiences out and into theaters when a Han Solo film couldn’t?
