TheDCUhas an opportunity to create a successful version of one of Marvel’s lowest-grossing movies, and I hope it’s already in the pipeline. The new DCU is due tocommence in earnest withSuperman, which is due to release on July 11 of this year. Just by the look of the trailers, I’m pretty confident that the new DC Studios co-CEO, James Gunn, will be steering the franchise in the right direction over one year after the DCEU released its final movie,Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, in December 2023.
The DCU is debuting at a particularly tumultuous time for superhero movies. TheMCU is struggling to remain consistentwith its Multiverse Saga releases, andSony’s Spider-Man Universe is seemingly defunctas it put a pause on most future superhero productions, Nicholas Cage’s Spider-Noir series notwithstanding. Nevertheless, the DCU looks poised to inject the genre with some optimism, as the bright and comic-faithful adaptation of Superman suggests. In fact, it could even flip the script on one of the most disastrous superhero movie releases of the last decade.
Kraven The Hunter Is One Of Marvel’s Least Successful Movie Releases In Recent History
It Grossed Just $60 Million Worldwide
Kraven the Hunterwas the ill-fated finalmovie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Released in December 2024, it was the latest installment of the franchise to spotlight a character that typically sits at the forefront of Spider-Man’s iconic rogues' gallery, giving him a moral makeover and centering him as a hero, albeit one who has no qualms about killing his enemies. Despite the unique R-rating, a decent cast, and the fact that it wasn’t as critically lambasted as themore successfulMadame Web,Kraven the Huntergrossed a franchise-record-breaking $60 million worldwide.
$856,081,053
30%
$501,546,922
57%
$162,759,437
15%
$100,298,817
11%
$472,447,179
41%
$60,011,428
This wasn’t just a bleak record for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, butone of the lowest worldwide box office results for any superhero movie. It now sits around the same ballpark as 2005’sElektra($57 million) and 2013’sKick-Ass 2($63 million), with the latter coincidentally also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Even the critically pannedCatwomanfared better financially, grossing $82 million worldwide when it was released in 2004. Although it fared better financially than other superhero movies of the last decade, like 2024’sThe Crow($16 million), it remains one of the more high-profile flops in the genre.
Kraven The Hunter’s Premise Arguably Wasn’t The Problem With The Movie
Kraven The Hunter Was Affected By Multiple External Factors
Kraven the Hunterwas far from perfect, but I don’t think its biggest issue was the premise. One of the main criticisms leveled at the movie ahead of its release was a general sentiment thataudiences weren’t asking for a solo Kraven film. Nevertheless, I’m sure that if certain factors were mitigated ahead of time, it could have been a sleeper hit. After all, theGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise remains one of the MCU’s most successfulfinancially and critically, and it stars a then-lesser-known cohort of Marvel characters for whom there was no explicit appetite before its release.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe suffered from the conspicuous absence of its titular superhero, with Spider-Man instead being confined to the MCU.
Instead, I thinkKraven the Huntersuffered partly from the general lack of confidence in the franchise at that point. WhileVenom: The Last Dancewould claw back some of Sony’s losses, audiences could no longer overlook the fact that the franchise’s movies that didn’t star Venom were of dependably poor quality. I’m not about to suggest thatKraven the Hunteravoided the same pitfalls, however, as it still suffered from some poor writing and inexplicable scenes, like the Rhino letting out a bewildering throaty scream.
The biggest shortfall forKraven the Hunterand its predecessors, however, is clear.Sony’s Spider-Man Universe suffered from the conspicuous absence of its titular superhero, with Spider-Man instead being confined to the MCU. Thankfully, DC Studios has no such restrictions to hold its productions back, and if James Gunn continues his habit of spotlighting lesser-known characters and catapulting them into superstardom, then I think it could deliver its own version of Kraven.
DC’s Equivalent Of Kraven Would Be Theoretically Perfect For A DCU Movie
DC Has Its Own Gruff Hunter Antihero
There are famously many glaring parallels to be drawn between DC and Marvel’s heroes and villains, and such is the case with one lesser-known villain-turned-antihero of DC Comics. Namely, Catman. Catman began as a villainous and hammy Catwoman knock-off, parading in a Batman-like outfit and stealing cat-themed items. Then there was a significant overhaul of the character in the mid-2000s, wherehe was transformed into a more rough-and-ready big game hunter living in Africa- an MO ripped straight out of Kraven the Hunter’s playbook.
Catman fell off the rails in DC Comics and subsequently reinvented himself, which lends itself to a compelling character arc in the DCU.
With someconfirmed DCU projectsalready spotlighting lesser-known characters like Booster Gold, Swamp Thing, and The Authority, I think a Catman adaptation would be perfect for the DCU. Catman is also a key member of the Secret Six, a team of villains in the same vein as the Suicide Squad who carry out morally dubious missions. With Amanda Waller already established in theDCUviaCreature Commandos, this is perfect timing to deliver on DC’s Kraven the Hunter, where James Gunn’s magic can deliver a more appealing take.
