‘Kraven the Hunter’ Red Band Trailer Flexes Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Abs, Bloody Kills

A shirtless Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Russell Crowe doing a questionable Russian accent. And a CGI lion attack that seems to result in superpowers. Judging by the official red band trailer for Kraven the Hunter, this could be a standalone Spider-Man villain origin story that brings home the bounty for Sony Pictures after the memeable mess that was last year’s Morbius.

Just think twice about taking the kids to this one: it looks like the studio got their money’s worth for Kraven‘s R rating, with easily a dozen henchmen viciously dispatched in the preview alone. Throats are slit, noses are bitten off, torsos are impaled, and one dude has his head clamped in a bear trap. If that’s just a taste of the carnage to come, the ultimate body count is likely to be on a par with a chapter of John Wick. Yeah, there’s some stuff about Kraven (Taylor-Johnson) facing off against his ruthless crime lord father (Crowe), flashes of the voodoo priestess Calypso (Ariana DeBose) and a brief hint of a more animalistic foe (Rhino, likewise a Spidey antagonist), but it’s clear the primary action here will be the butchering of nameless goons.

And why not? Marvel’s adult fans — particularly those rankled by the idea that comic book movies are entertainment for children — could use a break from PG-13 purgatory. Whether the story itself gives them anything more substantial to chew on, well, director J.C. Chandor did make 2011’s Margin Call, so here’s hoping there’s a subplot about failing financial markets.

Kraven the Hunter premieres Oct. 6, 2023, close enough to Halloween that you can get away with dressing up in that fur-collared vest.