Kraven Is Missing One Important Thing - And Twitter Is Furious

Following the tepid critical response to "Morbius" and "Venom," Sony is still trying to make Marvel anti-heroes their brand. Spider-Man has no shortage of big bads in his Rolodex to repurpose for live-action films, and now Kraven the Hunter is next on the docket. Unsurprisingly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's portrayal of the sinister fiend is a far cry from the comics. You can't base an entire movie around an unrepentant villain famous for killing Marvel's most optimistic hero. The new trailer features some jarring departures such as Kraven getting his powers from lion blood — but that isn't what has fans up in arms. Twitter has been overwhelmingly full of critics mourning the loss of one of Kraven's most notable traits.

"[H]e's not even doing a big crap russian accent, that is Kraven's ENTIRE THING," @chrismcfeely pointed out. The son of Russian Aristocrats, Sergei Kravinoff's ties to the mother country is a large part of his backstory. And it isn't like accents haven't been pulled off before. Central to "Black Widow" and "Hawkeye," Yelena (Florence Pugh) handled the affectation with impressive grace that wasn't too distracting. Many fans agree that Johnson would be up to the task.

"Him having an American accent is extremely disappointing," @Spider_Devil7 noted, "especially since we know ATJ can do accents just fine." Though Johnson has proven himself in previous superhero fare such as "Age of Ultron," Kraven's trademark voice was given to a different character of note.

While the bones of Kraven's comic backstory are there, writers seem to be bending over backward to make the Spider-Man villain slightly more palatable. No longer a reprehensible hunter, he is more of an environmental conservationist. The poaching ideals and accent work instead go to his father (Russell Crowe), the apparent villain of the movie. 

Crowe is also no stranger to a big accent. His past two films, "The Pope's Exorcist" and "Thor: Love and Thunder," both feature the acclaimed actor exercising his accent chops. This time he is a villainous Russian who leaves his son to be eaten by a lion after a hunt goes wrong. But despite Sony throwing comic fans a Russian accent bone, it doesn't appear to be a hit.

"Wait so let me get this straight. Kraven has an American accent, is protector of animals, & gets powers?" questioned @ReedReads4. In this day and age, it isn't exactly easy to make people root for a character who is known for wearing lion skin as a vest; but that could be exactly the mistake of a "Kraven the Hunter" movie. Despite being a big antagonist to Spider-Man, the web-slinging hero has not faced off against this iconic villain in the live-action Sony films as of late. And is there a Kraven without a Spider-Man? Fans will certainly be the judge when "Kraven the Hunter" premieres in October 2023.