Kraven the Hunter Trailer: Aaron Taylor-Johnson Goes on an Animalistic Rampage

Kraven the Hunter finally gets a trailer, ahead of its release on October 6. Sony Pictures has dropped the first footage for the latest spin-off in its expansive Spider-Man universe, teasing an origin story for the animalistic big-game hunter. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals) in the lead, this marks Sony/ Marvel’s first R-rated movie, thanks to some bloody violence which involves him biting noses and chunks of flesh off his victims. Oh, and there’s also a small tease for the formidable brute The Rhino at the end of the trailer. J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) directs Kraven the Hunter.

The trailer for Kraven the Hunter opens with Sergei Kravinoff/ Kraven (Taylor-Johnson) in the US, using his heightened, animalistic senses to track down his prey’s vehicle and chases it down. “My son, never show mercy,” his father (Russell Crowe) says in a thick accent, indicating a flashback or memory during Sergei’s younger years in Russia. “They are prey, we are predators.” The unnamed father is portrayed as a cold-hearted mafia boss with a strong resolve — one that’s willing to let go of anyone who’s weak, including his own late wife, whom he gave up on. The same rules apply to his children as well, with the Kraven the Hunter trailer switching to a safari scene, where young Sergei is forced to fight a wild lion. Understandably, the beast mauls him as his father just stands there and watches, assessing his son’s so-called ‘strength’. “He is weak, like his mother. Leave him,” the father says, leaving his son for dead.

During that brief tussle, however, Sergei managed to shoot the lion once, causing it to bleed out and have its blood mix with his wounds. The Kraven the Hunter trailer hints at some mutating effects, with a fully grown-up Sergei starting his personal hunt to bring down his father’s evil empire. “I stared death in the face and for the first time, I saw my true self,” Sergei says, as we see him emerging out of the darkness with glowing eyes, akin to a cat. Not only are his senses and movements similar to those of animals, but he can form a connection with the other wild beasts to exact his tasks — such as ordering a pack of wolves to attack his enemies. We’re also treated to some gory vehicular combat as Kraven the Hunter leaps onto a truck and stabs his foes with an animal’s sharp tooth, before eventually biting off one’s nose.

“Why do you hunt?”, voodoo priestess Calypso (Ariana DeBose) asks, as Kraven makes his way into the forests to hunt down all guards, before making his way to his father. However, he’s not the only villain in Kraven’s way, as The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), a mercenary wants to hunt down the big game. “There is an animal in each one of us,” Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), one of The Foreigner’s closest henchmen says, as he injects a mysterious serum into himself, causing his skin to malform and turn grey — resembling The Rhino. The iconic villain was last seen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), starring Andrew Garfield.

Kraven the Hunter releases October 6 in theatres worldwide.