How does Kraven the Hunter get his powers?

The Kraven the Hunter solo movie revealed some… big changes to his origins in the first trailer, so here’s a breakdown of how the Spider-Man villain actually got his powers in the first place.

The apparent mission statement of the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (SPUMC) is a bit of a head-scratcher: take characters solely known for their connection to Spider-Man and put them in movies without him in it, excluding the odd laughable reference. Oh, and make them really weird.

Venom was a strong start; perhaps not critically, but it grossed more than $850 million worldwide and paved the way for Carnage in the sequel. And then there’s Morbius, the Living Vampire’s big-screen debut that became the most memed comic book movie in history.

We’ve still got Madame Web and El Muerto in the pipeline, but Kraven the Hunter is up first, introducing the iconic big-game obsessive with a revised backstory – here’s what you need to know.

How does Kraven the Hunter get his powers in the movie?

While unconfirmed, it appears Kraven gets his powers when the blood of a lion drips into his wound, mixing with his DNA and giving him extraordinary abilities.

In the opening of the trailer, we see Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) jumping through a window, chasing down a car, and leaping onto it, before ripping the door open. “Never show mercy. They are prey, and we are predators,” his dad (Russell Crowe) tells him in a flashback.

We then see a young Kraven on safari, aiming down the barrel of a gun at a lion. He waits too long to shoot and the animal attacks him, chomping his body and flinging him around like a rag doll. As the lion stands over him, a droplet of its blood falls into one of his bite wounds, and it’s implied it gave him powers. “I stared death in the face, and for the first time, I saw my true self,” he says.

The full scope of his powers remains to be seen. We know he “uses a connection with animals to track his prey”, he can pounce on and off walls, and he’s pretty skilled with any and all weapons, from knives to crossbows.

How does Kraven the Hunter get his powers in the comics?

Kraven the Hunter’s origin is much different in the comics: he gets his powers from a magical potion given to him by a Voodoo witch doctor named Calypso, which he periodically ingests.

These “rare and exotic jungle elixirs” gave him “the strength and speed of a savage beast”, as per the wiki page – he’s even considered to be more powerful than Captain America.

Marvel Comics

“Kraven possesses superhuman abilities conferred upon him via special herbal potions he periodically ingests. These abilities include enhanced strength (optimally lifting two tons), speed (able to sprint short distances at 60 mph), agility, stamina, and longevity. He can perform a standing broad jump of 20 feet. He can exert at peak levels for a half-hour before fatigue impaired performance. Despite his advanced years, Kraven maintains the physical age of a 30-year-old,” Marvel explained.

While he’s also an expert marksman and master strategist and tracker, he doesn’t have any supernatural abilities, unlike his movie counterpart. The inclusion of Rhino in the film is curious, though; perhaps he uses the potion to turn into his villainous namesake, and it’ll be that same concoction that’ll set up Kraven for his face-off with Spider-Man. Or, maybe, it just won’t make any sense.

Kraven the Hunter will hit cinemas on October 6, 2023. Find out more about the movie here.