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Kraven the Hunter Ending Explained: A Major Spider-Man Story Teased (and Wasted)

Posted on by Taylor Reeves
Kraven the Hunter Ending Explained: A Major Spider-Man Story Teased (and Wasted)

Let’s make it simple: you want to know if there are any post or mid-credits scenes in Kraven the Hunter. The answer is no, there are no post-credits scenes.

Kraven the Hunter has arrived to cap off a busy year of new releases in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe franchise following Madame Web and Venom: The Last Dance. Unfortunately that seems to be the case the final entry in this cinematic universe. How does the new film shape the future of Sony’s Spider-Man universe and does it even matter now?

Read on for a full breakdown of the ending and how it might (but probably won’t) affect future Sony-Marvel films, but beware of full Kraven the Hunter spoilers!

Kraven the Hunter’s Ending Explained

Kraven the Hunter is about taking an iconic Spider-Man villain and transforming him into a more sympathetic anti-hero. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Sergei Kravinoff may be a cold-blooded killer, but his wrath lies with illegal big game hunters, drug lords and anyone else who threatens nature. This mission becomes personal when Kraven’s half-brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) is kidnapped by Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), a man who wants to overthrow Kraven’s father, crime boss Nikolai (Russell Crowe), and prove himself as the strongest figure in the criminal underworld.

The film culminates in a major showdown between Kraven and Aleksei in Siberia, where Kraven makes mincemeat of Aleksei’s henchmen, only to encounter the superhuman assassin known as The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott). The alien poisons Kraven with a rare poison that causes hallucinations, paralysis, and a painful death. Kraven hallucinates dozens of spiders, hinting at his eventual rivalry with Spider-Man. But for the second time in his life, he is saved by Calypso (Ariana DeBose), who kills The Foreigner and gives her more of her life-saving potion.

Kraven then goes head-to-head against Aleksei and quickly learns why his opponent is nicknamed “The Rhino”. Thanks to the genetic engineering efforts of a man named Miles Warren (more on him later), Aleksei is able to transform into a literal human rhinoceros with super-strong and durable armor. Ultimately, however, Kraven manages to kill his stronger opponent by being clever and relying on the animal kingdom’s help. He’s practically Aquaman with the way he can convince animals to obey his wishes in this film.

Before he dies, Aleksei tricks Kraven into realizing the truth behind Dmitri’s kidnapping. Everything was orchestrated by Nikolai. Kraven pays his father one last visit on his hunting trip to Russia. Nikolai reveals that he manipulated Kraven into conflict with Aleksei because he knew his son would ultimately win and destroy a powerful rival. As distant as they have become, Nikolai respects his son’s superior strength. However, that doesn’t stop Kraven from summoning a ravenous bear to devour his father.

Ultimately, Kraven manages to save Dmitri and punish those responsible for threatening his family. However, it is a bittersweet ending at best. When Kraven reunites with Dmitri a year later, he discovers that his brother has taken over their late father’s criminal empire and has become exactly the kind of man he despises. Additionally, Dmitri has also turned to Miles Warren for a small genetic improvement. Already possessing the uncanny ability to mimic voices, Dmitiri is now a shapeshifter who can mimic anyone. His nickname “The Chameleon” is more appropriate than ever. And if Kraven decides to add Dmitri’s name to his prey list, he might have a hard time tracking down a man who can look like anyone else.

With no family left, Kraven returns to the family estate to find that Nikolai has left a parting gift for him. The lion’s head that was once attached to the wall was converted into a ceremonial vest. Kraven dons the vest, sits on his throne, and prepares to prove himself as the greatest hunter in the world.

Does Kraven the Hunter have a post-credits scene?

Kraven the Hunter has no mid-credits or post-credits scenes, making him a bit of an outlier in Sony’s Spider-Man universe. Every other one of these films except Madame Web had some sort of post-credits scene. These scenes always sparked future conflict, no matter what happened Morbius teases an alliance between Jared Leto’s Morbius and Michael Keaton’s Vulture or Venom: Let There Be Carnage is setting up a short MCU crossover.

But as previously mentioned, Sony’s Spider-Man universe is now reportedly dead. The studio probably decided there was no point in leaving fans with a post-credits tease that wouldn’t be followed up on. It’s bad enough that the fans are left with something a joke for Knull in Venom: The Last Dance That’s not going to lead anywhere now.

However, it’s enough to make you wonder if a post-credits scene was planned at some point. Since the film alludes to Professor Miles Warren several times, perhaps Warren could have been revealed in the flesh. Warren is better known in the comics as “The Jackal,” a mad scientist who transforms into a human jackal. He is best known for creating clones of Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and others, paving the way for the infamous Clone Saga crossover in the ’90s.

Another possibility is that Morbius and Vulture have resurfaced to recruit Kraven to their growing supervillain team. It definitely feels like Sony is trying to work towards its own Sinister Six, even if Spider-Man himself remains largely MIA in this universe.

In the end it doesn’t matter. There is no post-credits scene in Kraven the Hunter and the film is supposedly the final entry in the SSU.

Is there a future for Sony’s Spider-Man universe?

Kraven the Hunter is loosely setting up future conflicts in the SSU. The film is effectively an origin story for Kraven himself, laying the foundation for who he is and what motivates him to eventually begin his feud with Spider-Man. For most of the film, Kraven sees himself as a heroic, even noble, figure, in stark contrast to his self-centered father. But in the end, most of that heroism was lost. We see that Kraven is just as arrogant as Nikolai. And with no real family left, Kraven has only his own growing legend to fall back on.

Kraven is convinced that he is the greatest hunter in the world and that there is no true rival. As in the comics, the video game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and other Spider-Man media, this trust is inevitably shattered when Kraven gets wind of Spider-Man’s existence. This is a superhuman man who bears the image of what Kraven seems to fear. He will be forced to travel to New York City and face off against the ultimate prey.

In addition to setting up a future storyline between Kraven and Spider-Man (perhaps drawing from the groundbreaking graphic novel Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt), the film also introduces two other key Spider-Man villains in The Jackal ” and “Hechinger’s Chameleon” together (Although it strangely kills Rhino before he can face Spider-Man). We may not have seen a proper Spider-Man in this universe yet, but he’s still developed an impressive rogues’ gallery.

But again, at this point it’s probably all for nothing. As reported by TheWrap, Sony is putting this cinematic universe on holdAccording to a source, the studio has “developed what it wants to develop now” and is now focusing on the next MCU Spider-Man film. This comes as Kraven the Hunter is expected to perform even worse at the box office when it opens this weekend than Madame Web.

After a string of critical and commercial failures, we can hardly blame Sony for sidelining the SSU. This entire universe was built on the solid foundation of 2018’s Venom grossed a respectable $856 million at the worldwide box office. Sony has repeatedly failed to replicate that success, be it with the Venom sequels themselves or spin-offs like Morbius and Madame Web. Kraven’s poor box office performance appears to be the final nail in the coffin for a cinematic universe that never managed to flourish.

That’s not to say Sony won’t continue to develop new Spider-Man projects independently of Marvel Studios. They had far greater critical and commercial success with the animated Spider-Verse films. The studio is working hard on it Completion of the third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-VerseSpinoffs are also reportedly being considered.

Sony also seems to be switching to streaming to some extent. While the The Silk: Spider Society series is now deadProduction is currently underway on one Spider-Man Noir series with Nic Cage Reprising his Spider-Verse role in live-action. This series offers something that none of the SSU films could – Spider-Man himself (or at least a version of Spidey).

Sony seems to have realized that Marvel fans no longer have much patience for Spider-Man spinoff films that ignore Spider-Man. Whether that means Sony will work more closely with Marvel Studios in the future or prioritize projects like Spider-Man Noir that feature alternate universe versions of Peter Parker, they’re clearly moving away from these rogue films. Kraven the Hunter could well be the last of a dying race.

However, saying that Sony has “developed what they want to develop now” does not mean that the SSU is officially and permanently dead. There’s always the possibility that Sony will follow up on the ending of Venom: The Last Dance at some point and give us the Knull movie that has been teased. Perhaps Knull is a major threat to justify Venom’s return to the MCU. But no matter what happens with Andy Serkis’ Knull and Tom Hardy’s Venom, we wouldn’t hold our breath. Taylor-Johnson will soon be donning the lionskin vest again.

For more information on Sony’s Spider-Man universe, click here Review of Kraven the Hunter by IGN and refresh Every Spider-Man movie and series is in development.

Jesse is a friendly contributor to IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket follow @jschedeen on BlueSky.

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