Kraven the Hunter: Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the ‘Challenges’ of Playing the Marvel Villain

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Kraven the Hunter: Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the ‘Challenges’ of Playing the Marvel Villain

It has been nearly a year since it was confirmed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been tapped for the role of Kraven the Hunter, and now the Golden Globe winner has finally opened up about his casting by revealing the “challenges,” that came with playing the Marvel villain.

In a recent interview with Hero Magazine, Taylor-Johnson sat down with Spider-Man: No Way Home star Andrew Garfield to talk about each other’s recent works and upcoming projects. While Garfield complimented the Kick-Ass star’s current physical transformation for Kraven, he also went on to ask him about how he’s feeling about the upcoming role, especially when it’s a well-known character.

“It comes with its challenges. As you know!” Taylor-Johnson admitted. ” You do come at it from another angle, which is back-to-front for me. It’s like you’re coming at it from the physical aspect, because that’s what you can see from a comic book. You go, ‘Oh, he looks like that, so I have to look like that.’ You see that and then you start to backtrack and dig deeper, and go, ‘This is where he originates from, then he has this relationship and that relationship…’ You just hope that you’re going to portray something that you can bring to life.”

He continued, “There is, again, room for an interpretation and you want to be able to bring something and let it pop off the page. It’s another new challenge, we talk about putting yourself under pressure all the time. I don’t step away from controversial shit, I don’t know what it is, but I’m always drawn to the thing that might actually give me a f—ing stroke!”

The Avengers: Age of Ultron alum also shared a pre-production update, confirming that he’s already in England and doing stunt training in preparation for the upcoming filming start.

“I’m in England, I’m not in London but just outside, close to the production office [for Kraven the Hunter],” Taylor-Johnson said. “I’m staying here because I’ve got a bunch of stunt training to do for this movie, so the director and I are bunking up for the next couple of weeks.”

Kraven the Hunter will feature Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron) as he takes on the mantle of the titular Spider-Man villain, who is a Russian immigrant named Sergei Kravinoff. In the film, which is being billed as the next chapter of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU), he goes on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world.

Joining him are Fred Hechinger (Fear Street Trilogy, The White Lotus) as Chameleon, Kraven’s half-brother; Oscar nominee Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) as Calypso, the occasion partner and lover of Kraven; and Russell Crowe for an undisclosed role.

Kraven the Hunter will be directed by Oscar nominee J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) from a screenplay co-written by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer films), Matt Holloway, and Art Marcum. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are attached to produce the project.

The film is expected to be released on January 13, 2023.