The hunt could be on for Marvel’s friendly neighbourhood web-slinger.
Kraven the Hunter is one of Spider-Man’s oldest foes, having debuted in 1964s The Amazing Spider-Man #15 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
The villain’s modus operandi (you guessed it) is hunting what he deems as worthy or challenging prey. Which is a slightly different agenda to previous onscreen antagonists, who seem to hate the hero just because someone has to?
It has been suggested that the Vulture and the Scorpion were in the running to serve as the movie’s antagonist. Kraven could prove to be the better choice of foe to stop Spider-Man’s MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) debut turning into an animal themed onesie party.
Kraven could be joined by other Spider-Man foes but no one is crying out for a repeat of the ‘villain happy’, evilgasmic disasters that were Sam Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN 3 and Marc Webb’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. Note even Zack Snyder and Warner Brothers want that.
Last week it was revealed that the second reboot of the SPIDER-MAN franchise in less than a decade, had found its writers in the forms of John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein.
The duo previously penned HORRIBLE BOSSES and its sequel, as well as this year’s lacklustre VACATION a tribute to/sequel to/remake of the far superior NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION, reassuring fans that the franchise is in such good hands.
In interviews, the writers assured fans that the rebooted SPIDER-MAN will focus on Peter Parker’s life at high school-an aspect of the character that wasn’t really explored in other features– as well as his superhero adventures.
The movie will be ‘grounded’ and portray Parker as a ‘geeky, outcast kid.’ So, expect the first feature to be filled with teen angst, love triangles, detentions, and plenty of moments where the ‘geeky’ protagonist gets a boner over pretty girls, or tosses himself off to WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
We can all breathe a sigh of relief as the movie won’t repeat Spider-Man’s already sewn-into-the-public-consciousness origin story. Uncle Ben won’t die for a third time, and Peter won’t be bitten by a spider again. Instead, Spider-Man will already be slightly established and is set to cameo in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR will arrive in cinemas early next year, with the as yet untitled SPIDER-MAN feature scheduled for a 2017 release.
