Sony Pictures is turning another Marvel villain into a headlining character in next year’s Kraven the Hunter movie. And while Kraven is best known as one of Spider-Man’s adversaries, he may not be the only member of Spidey’s rogues’ gallery to appear in the film. Deadline is reporting that Fred Hechinger has joined the cast of Kraven. And if Deadline’s sources are accurate, Hechinger may portray Dmitri Smerdyakov, aka the Chameleon.
Hechinger is having a very impressive run of leading roles, including his part as Quinn Mossbacher in HBO’s The White Lotus and his starring turn as Simon Kalivoda in all three of Netflix’s Fear Street films. He has also appeared in News of the World, The Woman in the Window, The Underground Railroad, and Italian Studies. Hechinger also currently recurs as Seth Warshavsky on Hulu’s Pam and Tommy.
Within Marvel’s comic book universe, Chameleon has the distinction of being the very first supervillain to face Spider-Man. He is such a master of disguise that very few have been able to tell the difference between him and his targets. But the cost of Chameleon’s ability is that he sometimes loses track of who he really is.
Chameleon is also the half-brother of Sergei Kravinoff, the role that will be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the film. Sergei is known professionally as Kraven, one of the greatest hunters in the world. After initially challenging himself to capture Spider-Man, Kraven became one of the webslinger’s most memorable foes. But since Sony’s Marvel movies (like Venom) are separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this new version of Kraven won’t have any direct involvement with Spider-Man.
J.C. Chandor will direct the film from a script by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk. Kraven the Hunter will film this year, and head to theaters on January 13, 2023.
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