on Google Preferred Source Google News Link copied to clipboard By Michael McWhertor Published Aug 19, 2026, 7:31 PM EDT News Come for Kraven's abs, stay for Marvel's second-weirdest Rhino
Kraven the Hunter embodies the fatal flaw of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe Jason Statham's latest action flick is a bust on Rotten Tomatoes 14 years later, Quentin Tarantino’s 10/10 western thriller classic explodes onto streaming The Marvel movie that finally killed Sony's Spider-Man Universe is coming to Disney Plus Image: Sony Pictures Kraven the Hunter Sign in to your Polygon.com account 2024 was a banner year for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, with no less than three Spidey-adjacent spinoffs released in theaters: Madame Web , Venom: The Last Dance , and Kraven the Hunter . All three films were met with acidic critical response, and all but one — the third Venom movie — were box office bombs. It seems that Kraven the Hunter's biggest prey was Sony Pictures' Marvel-esque ambitions: The Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led superhero movie effectively killed the "SSU" after grossing just $62 million globally .
Soon, Disney Plus subscribers will get to see what all the fuss was(n't) about, as Kraven the Hunter is coming to Disney's streaming service in September after its run on Netflix. It's a must-watch if you love a hot mess.
The addition of Kraven the Hunter to Disney Plus will almost complete Disney's collection of Sony's Spider-Man Universe films. Subscribers already have access to Venom , Venom: Let There Be Carnage , Morbius , and Madame Web . Venom: The Last Dance , which is leaving Netflix soon, is on its way to Disney Plus imminently. Sony's mainline Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland are also on Disney Plus.
While the Tom Hardy-led Venom movies are largely bad-but-wacky fun and Madame Web is so bad it's just bad , Kraven the Hunter is a much more puzzling film. Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven not as a big-game hunter eager to defeat Spider-Man to prove his hunting prowess, but as a vigilante who takes down criminals. While promoting the film, Taylor-Johnson described his take on the comic book supervillain as an apex predator, a "protector of the natural world," and an "animal lover."
Kraven the Hunter pulls in plenty of Spider-Man-adjacent characters, including the Chameleon, played by Fred Hechinger, who has an astounding evolution in the movie; Calypso, a voodoo practitioner AND lawyer, played by Ariana DeBose; and Russell Crowe doing a Russian accent. The highlight of the film is Alessandro Nivola's turn as Aleksei Sytsevich, the Rhino. After a previous take on the character played by Paul Giamatti (in a rhino mech suit!) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , Nivola's Rhino is somehow even stranger, as seen in the following clip, which will make no sense in or out of context.
Make no mistake: Kraven the Hunter is not a "good" movie. It earns its 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes , and every delay, reshoot, and ill-advised studio choice about making a Kraven the Hunter movie without Spider-Man is on the screen. Viewers will take no small amount of satisfaction in seeing Kraven's failure play out over the course of 122 minutes, especially knowing that Ryan Coogler was denied access to Kraven the Hunter for his Black Panther movies.
Marvel fans will also "enjoy" Kraven the Hunter for another reason. They'll get a look at Christopher Abbott in Marvel mode ahead of his turn as Professor Charles Xavier in Marvel Stu…