The first wave of reviews for Kraven the Hunter are in, and the film looks to be another panned entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe franchise. With 48 reviews counted as of this writing, Kraven the Hunter sports a very low 17% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. A Critics Consensus has not been revealed yet, but a glance over the published reviews indicate everything from the movie’s script to the special effects and a mishmash of tones were criticized. The average rating for the reviews is 3.80/10.
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There are a handful of positive reviews, claiming Kraven the Hunter is an entertaining comic book adaptation thanks to its action sequences, references to larger Marvel Comics lore, and bits of levity. However, these critics are in the overwhelming minority. Just about everyone is in agreement that Kraven the Hunter sends Sony’s Spider-Man Universe out on a very sour note.
Since launching with the original Venom back in 2018, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has never been a critical darling. None of the installments even posted a “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes; the closest was 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which has a 58% rating on the aggregate. Kraven the Hunter‘s early score is on par with the much-maligned Morbius (15%) and Madame Web (11%). It’s telling that the Venom franchise — which boasts scores of 30% and 41% — is clearly the most acclaimed of the bunch.
[Related: From Sinister Six to Silk — A List of Sony’s Unmade Spider-Man Universe Spinoffs]
2024 was a particularly rough year for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. After Madame Web bombed with $100.4 million worldwide, Venom: The Last Dance became the lowest-grossing Venom movie, illustrating audiences have lost interest in the property. With this in mind, it isn’t surprising Sony is planning to stop making these Marvel spin-offs, instead choosing to focus on projects like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 and highly anticipated animated sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse while they figure out their next course of action.
Even before these reviews came out, Kraven the Hunter had bleak box office prospects, with the most recent estimates suggesting it could have a lower opening than Madame Web. It goes without saying that this kind of negative word-of-mouth won’t do the film any favors, especially as it looks to make a splash while competing against mega hits such as Moana 2 and Wicked, which have dominated the holiday season thus far. Kraven the Hunter doesn’t even have much appeal as a counterprogramming option for older moviegoers, as fellow R-rated action flick Gladiator II earned a much more positive reception. Ridley Scott’s latest has taken a bit of a hit in ticket sales ($12.5 million domestic gross last weekend), but it should continue to be a draw for its target demographic.
There are still several Kraven the Hunter reviews to come (Venom: The Last Dance has 208 counted, as a comparison), meaning its Rotten Tomatoes score can fluctuate over the next few days. That said, there isn’t much of a chance it will turn things around and post a solid score on the site. Typically, the initial wave of reviews are indicative of where the consensus will land, so Kraven the Hunter will go down as another widely panned effort from Sony to tap into the rich library of Marvel characters they have the film rights to. Hopefully, the studio’s future endeavors will fare much better.