Sony is continuing to press forward with its own Marvel movie universe. The studio has set its sights on director J.C. Chandor for a Kraven the Huntermovie. It was initially revealed back in 2017 that Sony, who still controls the movie rights to Spider-Man and his surrounding cast of characters, was looking to develop a project centered on the villain. Now, they have just taken a major step forward by putting a director in place.
According to a new report, J.C. Chandor is in talks to helm Kraven the Hunter. Plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being but Richard Wenk (The Equalizer) penned the screenplay. Should Chandor’s deal close, it would mark the filmmaker’s first foray into comic book movie territory. Chandor most recently directed Netflix’s Triple Frontier, which features an A-list cast led by Ben Affleck and Oscar Isaac. Even though Netflix keeps ratings information closely guarded it recently ranked as one of the streamer’s most-watched original movies. Chandor’s other credits include A Most Violent Year and Margin Call.
This is just one of several projects Sony has in the works based on various Spider-Man characters. It was recently revealed that Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) has been tapped to helm a female-led Marvel movie, believed to be Spider-Woman. The studio also has a Madame Web movie in the works with S.J. Clarkson attached. Meanwhile, Marc Guggenheim is writing Jackpot. Morbius, which stars Jared Leto in the title role, was originally supposed to come out this year. However, with the theater closure that began in March, it was pushed to 2021. Leto is playing a character known in the comics as “The Living Vampire.”
These all come on the heels’ of 2018’s Venom. The first such spin-off proved to be a massive commercial success. With Tom Hardy on board as Eddie Brock, the movie grossed a staggering $856 million at the global box office. That was made all the more impressive when taking into account the beating it took from critics. A sequel titled Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is coming from director Andy Serkis next summer.
Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe became the $20 million monster that it is today, the Spider-Man movie rights were sold to Sony. Ever since, it has been one of the studio’s biggest franchises. Disney cut a deal with Sony to allow the character to appear in MCU movies like Avengers: Endgame, in addition to having solo movies like Spider-Man: Far From Home exist in that universe. But they still control the rights at the end of the day, which allows for these spin-offs to exist.
Kraven, aka Sergei Kravinoff, is one of Spider-Man’s most notorious villains. He first appeared in Marvel Comics in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 back in 1964. As a world-class hunter, he views Spider-Man as the ultimate prey. The villain was featured in the classic storyline Kraven’s Last Hunt. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details are made available. This news comes to us via Deadline.
