Russell Crowe‘s R-rated Spider-Man villain movie has finally landed on Disney+ today. Kraven the Hunter, the Sony Universe movie set within Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, was originally released in theatres on December 13, 2024. It opened to negative reviews and failed at the box office.
Directed by J.C. Chandor, the Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led superhero film also stars Crowe alongside Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, and Christopher Abbott. Based on the titular character from Marvel Comics, it’s the sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and chronicles his complicated relationship with his ruthless father, played by Crowe.
Per the film’s official synopsis by Sony Pictures, “Kraven the Hunter is the visceral, action-packed origin story of how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.”
Russell Crowe’s biggest superhero movie roles
Though Kraven the Hunter wasn’t exactly memorable, Crowe’s role as Nikolai Kravinoff still hits different. While it’s his second role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Crowe has held other significant superhero roles.
This includes that of Jor-El in Man of Steel (2013). Crowe played Superman (Kal-El)’s biological father in the blockbuster from Zack Snyder’s DCEU, guiding his son from Krypton through an AI hologram. Almost a decade later, he returned to the role in voice form, playing Jor-El in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021).
Then there’s the minor character of Zeus, which Crowe got to embody in Marvel’s critical disaster and the fourth installment in the Thor film series from 2022: Thor: Love and Thunder. His role as the Greek god Zeus, the boastful king of the Olympians and father of Hercules, marked his first role in the MCU.
You can stream Kraven the Hunter on Disney+.
Originally reported on SuperHeroHype.
