The origin story of a Spider-Man antagonist that, for contractual reasons, will not mention Spider-Man. This unique character has brought a whole new level of weirdness to the screen. Photo: Jay Maidment/Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment/Everett Collection

Unraveling the Weirdness of Kraven the Hunter's World

Kraven the Hunter: The Main Character

Sergei Kravinoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, dons a fang thong necklace and showcases washboard abs. His glower hints at a monologue about the dangers of seed oils. He's given the nickname "the Hunter" by the criminal underworld as he hunts the most dangerous game. But he also has a secret nickname that sounds like a word for cowardly. Thanks to a mystical potion he received as a teen, he has super-strong abilities, super-senses, and can climb walls and bound around like an animal. This looked hilarious when Liev Schreiber did it in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and isn't any cooler here.

Dmitri: The Club-owning Mimi

Fred Hechinger portrays Kraven's half-brother, Dmitri, who is a nightclub-owning mimic. He has the vague proportions of a Funko Pop and appears to have been digitally shrunk down. He looks frailer than his brawny sibling. His character adds another layer of uniqueness to the story.

Nikolai Kravinoff: The Vodka-swigging Daddy

Russell Crowe plays Sergei's vodka-swigging daddy, Nikolai Kravinoff. He is a Russian gangster with an absurdly toxic brand of masculinity. After dying for three minutes after getting mauled by a lion, his first words to young Sergei are "WHY DID YOU NOT SHOOT?!" His character brings a certain intensity to the narrative.

The Foreigner: The Confusing Assassin

Christopher Abbott plays an assassin named the Foreigner. He dresses like he owns an art gallery in Geneva and has confusing powers involving counting. His unique appearance and abilities make him stand out among the other characters.

Aleksei Sytsevich: The Rhino

Alessandro Nivola plays Aleksei Sytsevich, a.k.a. the Rhino, one of Nikolai's rivals. He does an even twitchier riff on what he did as Pollux Troy in Face/Off. At one point, he lets out a muted, prolonged shriek that no one acknowledges. His character adds to the overall weirdness of the movie.

Calypso: The Intriguing Stalker

Ariana DeBose is outstanding as Calypso. As a kid, she gives Kraven the potion that activates his abilities. As an adult, she stalks around a London law firm in intense geometric jewelry and assertive shoulder pads. She is incapable of delivering a single sentence in a normal cadence. The way she says "moTHAfuckAAA" will stay with us forever.Kraven the Hunter was directed by J. C. Chandor, who is known for handsome, genre-adjacent dramas like Margin Call and Triple Frontier. He is capable of turning out a decently lit shot, but the CGI animals look egregious and the editing of the action isn't always coherent. In one fight scene, Kraven gets shot with a dart, and the film takes too long to cut away to the character responsible, making it downright avant-garde.To write about superhero movies is often about money these days. The most telling extranarrative detail about Kraven the Hunter is that Sony delayed it three times and then effectively called it quits on its weird nub of a non-Marvel Marvel cinematic universe. "A movie no one asked for" is a clear-eyed assessment of its fundamental issue. It's based on a deep-cut comic-book character who isn't recognizable enough on his own, and the lead actor doesn't have enough charisma. As a Spider-Man antagonist, he would be an oddball addition, but as the focus of a whole movie, he struggles. Kraven the Hunter explores the inner workings of a character we didn't care about initially, along with underwhelming action sequences and a lot of scenery chewing. But all that weirdness isn't in vain - we'll always have DeBose as Calypso solemnly declaring that after her grandmother died, she never saw the woman again.