Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.

Tolmach told Collider that the date selection was just a matter of strategy since moving Kraven away from its former late summer release date meant that the movie wouldn’t have to fight for its space against other established franchises. With a reduced number of superhero movies being released in 2024, Kraven gets to fill that void in December. He stated:

A December release date might indeed benefit Kraven the Hunter. During Christmas, the superhero movie will offer something distinctly different from Wicked and Mufasa: The Lion King on either side of its release date. But since Kraven is aimed at older audiences, the film also gets a jump on December’s other adult offering, Nosferatu, by coming out two weeks earlier. If Sony had stuck with the previous August 30 release, Kraven could have had a hard time competing with the highly anticipated R-rated reimagining of The Crow.

Kraven The Hunter will star Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) as the title character — a famous Spider-Man villain who sets out to become the best animal hunter in the world. From what we know, the story will be set before Sergei Kravinoff meets and develops a vendetta against Peter Parker. The cast also features Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist), Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Christopher Abbott (Poor Things), Alessandro Nivola (The Many Saints of Newark), Chi Lewis-Parry (Gladiator 2) and Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus).