Fans of big media franchises don’t always know what they want. When one of their favorite characters hits the screen wrong, they might suggest a solution, but they won’t often see the problem. When something is as obviously troubled as Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, everyone has a take on how to fix it.Kraven the Huntermight be the first example of Sony incorporating some lessons learned.
Marvel and Sony have suffered in the ongoing legal battle for ownership of Spider-Man.Aside from theSpider-Versefilms, every attempt made by Sony to utilize Peter Parker has been an unmitigated disaster. Since IP ownership is the bane of artistic expression, Sony will continue to slap their action figures together until they produce a project successful enough to build a cinematic universe.
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Kraven the Hunterlooks like what the SSU should be
Whatever people say about theKraven the Huntertrailer, it doesn’t look like a Marvel movie. It barely looks like a superhero movie. It’s closer to any other R-rated action movie.More reminiscent ofHard Targetthan anything in Marvel’s catalog. It certainly doesn’t look anything like the other three films in the SSU. Deviating from the current glut of superhero movies is an obviously good decision. Not to suggest that Sony should simply abandon the genre it’s ostensibly aiming to succeed in, but it has failed at every turn. Instead, the film seems to be reaching toward an unusual virtue.Kravenkind of looks like a film that mirrors the character it’s named after.
Many have tried to ape the success ofMarvel’s cinematic universe model. Every competitor has failed miserably. The problem is obvious to most fans. The model is easy and should be replicable by any competent studio. Here’s the secret; make three to five good movies about likable characters, seed crossover details throughout, abandon any projects that don’t work, then make a team-up movie after the roster is established. The reason Warner Bros., Sony, and Universal all have multiple disinterred corpses in place of their universes is that they don’t have patience. They’re tripping over themselves to get to the big payday at the end of the project. They can’t just make good art, get people invested, and reap the rewards they’ve sewn. That amount of investment doesn’t look good enough on the balance sheet.Derision, mockery, and financial devastationare their rewards.
The first three SSU films went wrong
The moviegoing public must rememberMorbius. Don’t let this one slip into the blind spots of the cultural memory.Keep making memes about it. Keep saying “It’s Morbin' time.” Tell children about the time Sony brought a film to theaters twice, only to flop again. After the modest failure of bothVenommovies, Sony was confident enough to bring Michael Morbius, a character few fans had ever heard of, to the big screen. As everyone knows,Morbiusis a dull, repetitive, unoriginal disaster with an uncharismatic jerk in the lead role and several unintentionally hilarious scenes. TheVenomfilms failed outright to capture what people love about the character.Morbiusfocused on a character no one loved.Kravenmight be able to accomplish the mildly impressive feat of making a mildly-lovable figure into something special.
Will Sony learn its lesson?
Iron Man,Peacemaker, and Guardians of the Galaxywere all success stories based around characters that were not big names before this spotlight. Movies and TV shows are often the mainstream non-comic-reading public’s first real introduction to the characters comic fans love.Kraven the Hunterisn’t anyone’s favorite character, but a movie that captures his best traits can change that.Venomwas made to profit off of the name fans demand every timeSpider-Mangets a new cinematic series.Morbiuswas a butchered attempt to profit from a semi-profitable star.Kravencan defy expectations by doing whatIron Man, Peacemaker,orGuardians of the Galaxydid. Creators who loved those characters, actors who understood them, and fans who knew them well banded together to make those projects iconic. Standards don’t have to be as high as any of those, but ifKravendelivers a serviceable action film that makes fans want more of the big-game hunter, they’ll have a piece of what they’ve always wanted.
It remains to be seen how much ofKravenis given over to tortured franchise maintenance. It would be naive to assume the film will stand completely on its own. Even if the film pulls down abuffet of mediocre review scores. Even if it’s not as good as Marvel’s worst offering. Even if most fans don’t care enough to show up to the theater. IfKravenaccomplishes the simple feat of being a good movie about the character it’s named after, it’ll be a massive leap forward for the SSU. If it’s actually a good movie, fans will have this conversation again next year as they prepare the next minor figure for their close-up.
