Ryan Coogler Reveals How Kraven the Hunter Was Set to Factor Into His Original Plans for ‘Black Panther’

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Ryan Coogler shared that Kraven the Hunter was originally planned to appear in Black Panther. The film already had two main villains—Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, and Ulysses Klaue, played by Andy Serkis—but Sony Pictures decided against using Kraven in Black Panther, choosing instead to give the character his own standalone movie.

In a conversation with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Ryan Coogler shared his initial idea for including Kraven the Hunter in Black Panther. However, Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to Spider-Man villains, turned it down. When asked if Michael B. Jordan was ever considered to play Kraven, Coogler immediately responded that Jordan was always intended to play Killmonger.

The director shared that Kraven was initially considered for the role of Ulysses Klaue. He explained he wanted to draw inspiration from Christopher Priest’s run on Black Panther, specifically a scene where Panther, Ross, and Kraven fight in a kitchen, which is how that storyline begins. Coogler then continued to elaborate.

When I started working on the Black Panther film with my co-writer, Joe Robert Cole, Marvel already had a plan for the villains. They had decided that Klaw and Killmonger would be the main antagonists, and an outline for them already existed. They weren’t entirely settled on Klaw, but were excited to have Andy Serkis involved. As a big Spider-Man fan – especially the animated series – I really wanted to include Kraven as a villain, since he’s great in both the show and the comics. I asked if it was possible, and they checked with Sony, who owned the rights to the character. Unfortunately, Sony said no, and I had to accept that.

Kraven the Hunter’s Long Road to Get to Theaters (And How it Failed)


Sony

Kraven the Hunter is a classic Spider-Man villain that many directors have wanted to feature in a movie. Over the years, directors like Sam Raimi, Drew Goddard, Marc Webb, and Jon Watts all considered Kraven for various Spider-Man films, including potential sequels and team-up movies. Because so many filmmakers were interested in the character, Sony Pictures decided to make a standalone Kraven the Hunter movie.

Sony announced plans for a Kraven the Hunter movie in 2018, shortly after the success of Black Panther. The film was intended to be part of a shared universe based on Spider-Man characters, but surprisingly didn’t include Spider-Man himself. After several delays, Kraven the Hunter finally premiered on December 10, 2024, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and directed by J.C. Chandor. However, the movie was a critical and commercial failure, earning only a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and bringing in $62 million worldwide. This resulted in an estimated loss of $70 million for Sony, making it the lowest-performing film in the Spider-Man spin-off series – even worse than Madame Web and Morbius.

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The fact that Ryan Coogler couldn’t use the Kraven the Hunter character actually benefited Black Panther. It allowed Andy Serkis to return as Ulysses Klaue, creating a connection between Black Panther and Avengers: Age of Ultron that strengthened the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe – something fans really appreciated during the Infinity Saga. Now that Coogler is writing and directing Black Panther 3, Sony should consider letting him use Kraven to give the villain a fresh start after his recent, unsuccessful movie.

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2026-01-01 17:48