Kraven the Hunter, the movie about one of Spider-Man‘s most famous foes, has its own secret villain. And, now we know a little bit more about the unrevealed antagonist thanks to comments from the actor.
The action movie‘s secret villain, who will act as the antagonist to Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter, is portrayed by American actor Alessandro Nivola. In a new interview with THR, the actor gave more than a few hints about the evil character, providing one or two clues about their identity. Nivola stated that “I didn’t have to do any CGI. I didn’t have to do any green screen. I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie… I didn’t have to contend with wearing a spandex outfit or anything like that.”
He also went on to give some more clues, this time about the character’s psychological state. The actor explained “[my character has] a really interesting, complex psychology and personal history to draw on, and the movie has a time jump in it, so the character changes a lot from the way he is in the beginning of the film.”
Whether he realised it or not, Nivola gave a surprising amount away about his secret character in the superhero movie. So what can we learn from these hints about the villain? First, we now know that the character isn’t covered in elaborate CGI, and won’t even have a spandex suit. So, we know this isn’t a character akin to Green Goblin, Doc Ock, or Michael Morbius. Clearly Nivola is playing a more human, low-key villain (or low-key interpretation of a villain).
The second big hint is about the character’s complex backstory and development. The villain is going to change a lot from the start of the superhero movie to the end of the movie, and has an intense and complicated personal psychology. This could really apply to any Marvel villain, especially taking into account that the movies often change a villain’s backstory and motivations.
So, while there are plenty of hints (and fans will want to wonder if they can apply to characters like Scorpion, or Mephisto) the secret villain of the Kraven the Hunter movie really could be anyone. There is a huge rogues’ gallery to choose from, so hopefully the secret villain of Kraven the Hunter is someone who can challenge the titular character in interesting and unexpected ways.
To get into the villainous groove, check out our guide to the Spider-Man villains ranked.