Kraven the Hunter takes on the ambitious hope of bringing gravitas to the life of Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the son of a Russian mobster who takes on the life mission of being the world’s greatest hunter… of men. The story of the film sees Sergei (or “Kraven”) getting tripped up by his family again: his father Nikolai is at war with rival gangster Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), aka “The Rhino.” And when Aleksei learns that his greatest rival’s son is the infamous “Hunter” – the assassin who has killed evil men all over the world – the entire Kravinoff family gets a target on its back.
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Kraven the Hunter Ending Explained
By the end of the film, Kraven has to defend his home turf (a private wilderness preserve) against an attack by The Rhino, his superpowered assassin Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), and a small army. Kraven kills Rhino, his ally Calypso (Ariana DeBose) takes out Foreigner, and (with the help of some loyal animals) the mercenaries are decimated. Kraven is gravely wounded in the battle, but Calypso uses the final bit of the serum that gave him his powers to heal him. They rescue Kraven’s half-brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), who had been captured and mutilated by Rhino, and injured in the battle.
In the aftermath, Kraven returns to Russia and confronts his father, having discovered it was Nikolai who told the Rhino that his son was the Hunter. Sergei finds Nikolai in the frozen wilderness hunting a bear, and steals the shells from his father’s shotgun. After a final goodbye, Sergie leaves Nikolai to the horrible realization that he is defenless, as Kraven “calls” the bear in to maul his father to death.
The Hunter vs. The Chameleon
A year later, Sergei honors his annual tradition of meeting Dmitri for dinner and drinks on the latter’s birthday. The Kravinoffs now live in the luxury of their father’s empire, but the brotherly meal quickly turns sour. Kraven is upset to learn that Dmitri has become a crimelord like Nikolai; Dmitri counters that his brother is a hypocrite after murdering their father and many other men. They leave dinner in a huff, but Dmitri reveals that his miraculous “recovery” from having his finger cutoff and body damaged by the Rhino is just a ruse. Dmitri has reveals that his can mimick his brother’s face – or any face – at will, and his “real face” is now a blank slate mask with some kind of holographic tech built into it. Dmitri claims that he was always a “chameleon” with the way he could mimick voices and mannerisms, and that his benefactor in New York has finally made it so he can live up to that name. There’s clearly a rivalry between the brothers now, as “Chameleon” is exactly the sort of “bad man” that “Kraven” is supposed to hunt.
Sergei goes home to find a gift his father left him: the mane and skin of the lion that nearly killed him as a boy, cut into an vest with a neclacke made of fangs. Kraven puts the outfit on and sits in a throne-like chair to (weirdly) admirer himself in a mirror. Credits roll. No post-credits scenes.
[RELATED: Is Sony’s Spider-Man Universe DEAD If Kraven Flops?]
Kraven 2: The Hunt for The Jackal
Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino and Dmitri Kravinoff/Chameleon both get their animalistic upgrades from a doctor in New York City – who Dmitri reveals to be Miles Warren, who is also know as one of Spider-Man’s most nefarious foes: The Jackal. Warren is a brilliant scientist in the fields of genetics, biochemistry and (especially) cloning. He has been the mastermind of several of the Spider-Man ‘Clone Sagas,’ where he’s replaced Peter Parker or those he loved with clones.
Kraven the Hunter seems to position Miles Warren/Jackal as an overarching villain hiding in the shadows. Warren’s work turned The Rhino into a major threat, and he turned Dmitri into a monser – both are enough to put the scientist on Kraven’s hit list. And if Kraven comes to NYC looking for a mad scientist, he could stumble into The Jackal’s schemes for Spider-Man…
However, Kraven the Hunter isn’t currently looking like it will get a sequel, and Sony is likely ending this entire line of Spider-Man spinoffs…
