An upcoming Marvel movie most had forgotten was even a thing has suddenly grabbed the internet’s attention after it’s been confirmed that it’s set to be R-rated. That’s right, Sony’s Kraven the Hunter will officially be the first of the studio’s Spider-Man spinoffs to sport the mature audience certificate. Initially, this resulted in a flurry of genuine excitement for the film, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the savage supervillain, but obviously, this is the Sony-verse we’re talking about so that was never going to last long.
Now that the news has sunk in a little, fans are complaining that, if Sony is willing to give Kraven an R-rating, why didn’t it give its prior films the same treatment — when they would surely be more deserving of it? As Twitter user Myron hilariously pointed out, it makes no sense that Venom and Venom: Let There be Carnage, about an “alien goo monster who eats human brains,” and “science vampire” flick Morbius were PG-13 while “Van Pelt over here” gets an R.
While there’s obviously more to the character than his similarities to the big game hunter from the Jumanji franchise — comic book readers will be familiar with the gloriously dark tale Kraven’s Last Hunt — it’s hard not to agree with the point that Venom and Morbius might’ve benefited greatly from having more mature ratings. The curiously goofy tone the Venom films have made their own definitely may have its fans, but Morbius can’t say the same. All in all, this does seem like another way Sony is self-sabotaging its own projects.
Who knows, with the R-rated Kraven the Hunter coming this Oct. 6 and the multiversal Madame Web following in Feb. 2024, maybe Sony is about to turn it around. Or maybe the changes are coming too late to save this universe.