The first trailer for Sony’s Kraven The Hunter has dropped, along with an accompanying poster. And already the internet is assuming it will play a lot like Morbius, the Jared Leto-starring turd from last year that likewise focused on a Spider-Man villain but didn’t have much to offer fans since it left out the Web-Slinger himself.
Although internet denizens admit that star Aaron Taylor-Johnson certainly looks like Kraven, the teaser isn’t convincing fans they should rush out to see this movie instead of just waiting on the next Spider-Verse or Tom Holland flick, both of which are on the horizon and, you know, have Spider-Man in them.
Dear Sony: This whole strategy of releasing standalone movies about the origin of villains that Spider-Man will one day fight is clearly getting obnoxious. Everyone turned up for the first Venom because, firstly, we were deprived of a real Venom in Spider-Man 3 back in the day. And secondly, Venom had already become known as an anti-hero and the center of his own comics for a few decades.
We do not have the same feelings for Morbius, Kraven, the upcoming El Muerto movie, or the upcoming Madame Web film. And just in case you get any ideas, we also don’t want standalone movies about Tombstone, Chameleon, Hydro-Man, Hobgoblin, Scorpion, or Hammerhead.
Sure, we’re interested in seeing these characters onscreen, but only in a movie where they fight Spider-Man. Sony is saturating the market with ham-fisted villain origin stories when they should be pulling back, or else every superhero movie is eventually going to open with the same box office as The Flash.
Of course, Morbius was also a terribly made movie, which likely accounts for a lot of its disappointing box office receipts and critical notes. But even if Kraven the Hunter is great, what is anyone’s incentive to see it in a theater if the person they really want to see Kraven hunt is off starring in his own much-more-essential projects?
It’s best for film producers to consider the likes of Venom and Joker as flukes. Rarely do audiences want to see a villain they associate with a certain superhero without said superhero showing up to fight the good fight.
See everyone in 2028 when we’re scoffing at the trailer for Galactus, with the tagline: “This summer, our world is his food.”