In 1964, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced comic book readers to Mysterio in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 13. Fans finally got to see this character come to life in this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, while Mysterio is one Spider-Man’s oldest foes, a fan favorite villain that has yet to appear on the big screen. Some fans are theorizing that Far From Home laid the ground work for his archenemy Kraven the Hunter.
Spider-Man: Far From Home introduces fans to a character named Dimitri. Dmitri is one of Nick Fury’s agents and is assigned to look after Peter Parker. That character has the name as Spider-Man’s very first villain: Dmitri Smerdyakov otherwise known as The Chameleon. While only a theory, director Jon Watts refused to deny if this character was the Chameleon, when asked in interviews. If that is true this could set up Kraven the Hunter, who is Dmitri’s half-brother in the comics.
Tell me more about Kraven
Kraven the Hunter first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 15 (August 1964). Kraven’s real name is Sergei Kravinoff and he is a Soviet immigrant. Kraven is a maniacal big game hunter who wants to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. He consumes a mystical serum to give himself enhanced strength and dramatically slow the aging process. Kraven is a founding member of the Sinister Six when he accepts Doctor Octopus’ offer to form a team to fight Spider-Man.
Given all the plans Sony appeared to have over the last several years in regards to their Spider-Man films this would all make sense. As recently as October 2018 there was an untitled Kraven the Hunter movie in the works. It was far along enough in development that Richard Wenk was attached as a screenwriter. Sony has also been trying to set up the Sinister Six since the post credits scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie. Previous Spider-Man films have already introduced fans to Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Vulture and Mysterio. Given the original comic book Six included all those villains plus Kraven the Hunter, it seems inevitable that we see Spider-Man and him go head to head.
