Kraven the Hunter

'' #47 (April 1967). Art by John Romita Sr. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 (August 1964), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Though he would occasionally appear in other characters' titles, he was most frequently used as a Spider-Man foe. He is killed off in the acclaimed 1987 storyline by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, and Bob McLeod, "Kraven's Last Hunt". Although generally considered to be the definitive Kraven the Hunter story, the story originally had a completely different character in Kraven's role. Writer DeMatteis recounted: Despite Kraven the Hunter being one of Spider-Man's most long-standing arch-enemies, DeMatteis claims that none of Marvel's editorial staff objected to the proposal to have him killed in the story. Kraven later returns as a ghost in the graphic novel The Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter, also by DeMatteis, Zeck, and McLeod. DeMatteis also wrote "Kraven's First Hunt" for The Sensational Spider-Man Annual '96, a retelling of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 which incorporated several DeMatteis retcons, such as that Kraven was abusive towards the Chameleon. ==Fictional character biography==

Sergei Kravinoff (Сергей Кравинов) is a Russian immigrant, the son of the aristocrat Nikolai Kravinoff who fled to the United States with his family in 1917 after the executions of Russian nobility by the February Revolution and subsequent collapse of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. Kraven is a maniacal big-game hunter who seeks to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdains the use of guns or bow and arrows, preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands. He also lives by a code of honour of sorts, choosing to hunt his game fairly. He consumes a mystical serum to give himself enhanced strength and dramatically slow the aging process. Kraven was trained as a hunter largely by a mysterious man named Gregor, a mercenary who once battled Ka-Zar. Kraven was, at one point, the lover of the voodoo priestess Calypso. He is contacted by his half-brother the Chameleon to defeat Spider-Man. He leads Spider-Man to Central Park with the help of the Chameleon, who disguises himself as Kraven to use himself as a decoy while the real Kraven ambushes the hero. However, despite Kraven having weakened Spider-Man with a poisonous dart, Spider-Man prevails in the end. Spider-Man proves a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimates the superhero's resourcefulness. Kraven becomes a founding member of the Sinister Six when he accepts Doctor Octopus's offer to form a team to fight Spider-Man. They capture Aunt May and Betty Brant. He attacks Spider-Man in Central Park with three tigers. Spider-Man fights off the attackers and secures the next clue to where Aunt May and Betty Brant are being held. After Aunt May and Betty Brant are rescued, Kraven the Hunter and the rest of the Sinister Six are arrested by the police. While in the Savage Land, Kraven the Hunter finds Gog in a spaceship that he stumbles upon. Realizing how useful Gog can be, Kraven the Hunter decides to use him in a plot to conquer the Savage Land. After kidnapping the visiting Gwen Stacy from a camp in the Savage Land, Kraven and Gog battle the heroes Ka-Zar and Spider-Man. While Ka-Zar deals with Kraven, Spider-Man defeats Gog by luring him into a patch of quicksand, which he sinks to the bottom of. ''Kraven's Last Hunt'' Determined to end his life as he becomes older, frustrated with his failing health and continuing failure to defeat Spider-Man, Kraven sets out a final hunt for Spider-Man. After capturing Spider-Man, he shoots him with a coma-inducing drug and buries him alive on his estate. To complete his victory, he attempts to become Spider-Man's clear superior by impersonating him in a brutal vigilante campaign and capturing Vermin, the one foe Spider-Man had never been able to defeat on his own (Spider-Man's last battle with Vermin required Captain America's assistance). After Spider-Man emerges from his grave two weeks later, Kraven explains his actions to him and sets Vermin free. Spider-Man goes after Vermin to prevent his killing again. Kraven leaves a final confession of his crimes against Spider-Man and then commits suicide. Because of his suicide, his soul is unable to find rest until Spider-Man confronts his risen corpse on Kraven's behalf. The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt Across "The Gauntlet" and "Grim Hunt", Kraven is resurrected by his ex-wife Sasha Kravinoff and their children with a dark magic ritual using the blood of Spider-Man. Thoroughly unhappy and enraged with having been bestowed an unwanted revival, Sergei is shown to now be explosively psychopathic and cold towards his family, beating his son Vladimir and daughter Ana and expressing little attention towards his wife. After being stabbed by his daughter Ana, Sergei recovers, stating that Sasha restored him with corrupted blood which he calls "unlife". They pull off the mask of the corpse of Spider-Man hung in their mantel and discover that Kaine had impersonated Peter in Spider-Man's costume. Kaine's nature as a clone indicates his unnatural existence has muddied the properties of the ritual. Spider-Man, in his black costume, confronts Kraven and the rest of the Kravinoff Family. Spider-Man is tempted to kill Kraven, who eagerly and desperately attempts to goad him into it. Beating him brutally, Spider-Man takes Kraven's spear in hand and prepares to grant his enemy his wish but he refuses to do so when he is reminded by Julia Carpenter (who has inherited the powers of Madame Web after her death) that committing murder is not in his moral code, and furthermore, by going through with it, damns himself to a future where from that point he takes on a more brutal approach to crime-fighting, including killing suspects, which will lead him to die in a standoff against the police (a scenario previously glimpsed in an earlier issue). Following their defeat by Spider-Man, Kraven and his family escape to the Savage Land. While there, Kraven brutally kills Sasha (who complained that Kraven would have to hunt them to prove their place in the Kravinoff family) and euthanizes Vladimir. Alyosha flees in disgust of what his dad did to his stepmom and half-brother afterwards. Kraven and Ana discuss rebuilding the Kravinoff family, which leads to Ana running off to hunt Alyosha to prove herself worthy to Kraven and rebuild the Kravinoff family. It was later revealed that back in the 1950s, Kraven the Hunter was a member of Nick Fury's Avengers alongside Dominic Fortune, Dum Dum Dugan, Namora, Silver Sable, Sabretooth, and Ulysses Bloodstone, tracking a stolen version of the Super-Soldier Serum combined with the Infinity Formula that had been stolen by a group of Nazis attempting to create their own Captain America. Kraven is contacted by a doctor who once treated him when a past hunt went wrong, the doctor requesting that Kraven track down a recent patient of hers—who had been used as a test subject to duplicate another man's electrical abilities—as well as asking that he capture the Black Panther—currently acting as a 'local' vigilante to regain his sense of self after the destruction of Wakanda's vibranium—in return for her help finding a way for him to die. With the aid of Storm, T'Challa is able to stay ahead of Kraven long enough to convince him that the doctor had lied about being able to kill him, Kraven agreeing to leave T'Challa alone and take the doctor's mutated animal subjects back with him into the wild. Kaine, in the alias of the Scarlet Spider, later encountered Kraven the Hunter, who was dressed as the Scarlet Spider to torment him. With the help of Ana, Kraven kidnapped Kaine's friends to motivate the Scarlet Spider to fight him. In the end, Kaine delivered Kraven a fatal blow in the chest, which paralyzed his heart. But using the same attack, Kaine brought him back to life supposedly still breaking the curse. Following the fight, both Kravens disappeared. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Kraven, still claiming to be cursed, next battles Squirrel Girl at Empire State University, having earned her ire by lashing out at the local squirrels, including Tippy-Toe. Kraven departs when Squirrel Girl informs him of the existence of sea monsters like Giganto, playing on Kraven's obsessions by challenging him to hunt worthier prey. He later returns to abduct Howard the Duck, but is trapped with Howard and Squirrel Girl in a manhunt as the hunted. After surviving, he vows to only "hunt the hunters". During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Kraven is recruited by Baron Helmut Zemo to join the Army of Evil. When Manhattan is surrounded by a Darkforce dome, Kraven raids the Daily Bugle to find information to the identity of Spider-Man. Knowing that J. Jonah Jameson would be in danger, Phil Sheldon's daughter Jennie headed to J. Jonah Jameson's house to warn him. After Kraven attacked J. Jonah Jameson, Jennie Sheldon fired a signal flare into the sky. This attracted the attention of Spider-Woman, who defeated Kraven. Jennie Sheldon even took pictures of the fight. Squirrel Girl has helped Kraven reform, teaming up with him to fight other villains, even establishing a friendship with him. She helps Kraven realize that Spider-Man is not even close to being the most dangerous prey in the Marvel Universe. Hunted In the "Hunted" storyline, Kraven the Hunter has 87 clones of him created, trained as the Sons of Kraven, and sent out to prove themselves by being hunted by each other. The surviving clone is labeled as the Last Son of Kraven. With help from Taskmaster, Black Ant, and Arcade, Kraven captures various animal-themed villains, traps them in Central Park, and has a group of Hunter-Bots hunt them down for sport. It is revealed that Kraven's secret motive is to force Spider-Man into killing him again so that he can be free from his curse of immortality. Kraven releases all the surviving hunting targets and dons a copy of Spider-Man's black costume. Mistaking Kraven for Spider-Man, the Last Son of Kraven strangles him to death, freeing him of his curse. ==Powers and abilities==

By regularly ingesting the potion made from various unnamed jungle herbs, Kraven grants himself superhuman physical abilities, making him a physical threat to Spider-Man, although these powers are not as developed as those possessed by Spider-Man. Kraven's body is also more durable, and more resistant to certain forms of injury than the body of a normal human. He can withstand great impact forces, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by a superhumanly strong opponent, that would severely injure or kill a normal human, with little to no injury to himself. The effects of the potion have dramatically altered Kraven's aging process to the point that he has aged little, if at all, over several decades. Despite being over 70 years of age, he has the physical appearance of a man in his 30's. The potion enhances Kraven's sight, hearing, and smell to superhuman levels, adding to his already impressive tracking skills. He can see farther, and with much greater clarity, than a normal human. His hearing is similarly enhanced, enabling him to detect sounds which an ordinary human cannot, or sounds that a normal human could detect, but at much greater distances. Kraven can use his sense of smell to track a target by scent, much as some animals do, even if the scent has been somewhat eroded by natural factors. Even without his superhuman powers, Kraven is an Olympic-level athlete, and a gifted tactician, hunter, and hand-to-hand combatant. He also has great knowledge of pressure points, both in the anatomy of humans and in many animals. He can strike at these nerve clusters with pinpoint accuracy, allowing him to incapacitate more powerful opponents or animals. He is familiar with many exotic poisons and tranquilizers, which he often uses during his hunts. Due to a flaw in the ceremony that resurrected him, Kraven was given "the unlife... the eternal curse", as he discovered when his daughter stabbed him through the heart. According to Kraven, he can now only die by Spider-Man's hand. However, this curse was apparently broken when Kaine temporarily killed Kraven by stopping his heart and then restarting it with the same move. ==Family==

Kraven the Hunter had different family members and clones. He fathered several children who have followed in his footsteps: Chameleon As mentioned above, Chameleon is Kraven the Hunter's half-brother. Grim Hunter Vladimir Kravinoff was a son of Sergei Kravinoff, the infamous adversary of Spider-Man known as Kraven the Hunter. Unlike his illegitimate half-brother Alyosha Kravinoff who was raised in shame in Africa, Vladimir grew up in Russia benefiting from his father's wealth and luxuries. Their father often neglected both sons while he pursued his various international quarries. Unaware of his siblings, Vladimir was raised by Sergei's servant Gregor who acted as a surrogate father teaching him Sergei's hunting techniques. When Vlad was still a boy, Sergei put his son through a rite of passage, hunting Vladimir while disguised as the fabled "Grim Hunter." Impressed by his son's abilities learned under Gregor, Sergei began to train Vlad personally. Vladimir Kravinoff took up the name "Grim Hunter" and decided to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes. He only had one battle with Spider-Man, and his methods were nearly the same as his father's. He was briefly involved with the Hobgoblin, even giving his identity of Jason Macendale his father's super-strength formula which reacted to the anomalies in his bloodstream which gave him greater power. This is perhaps the reason why Vladimir became more powerful than his father when he took the treatment. When he got out of jail, he decided to track Spider-Man down again only to fight the Scarlet Spider instead. Kaine (a clone of Spider-Man) arrived and after a confrontation, Vladimir was killed by the insane duplicate. On death's door, he staggered to Gregor falling in his arms and died shortly after that. During "The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt" storyline, Sasha Kravinoff sacrifices Mattie Franklin as part of a revival ritual that resurrects Vladimir as a humanoid lion creature. Vladimir being revived as a humanoid lion was the result of Mattie not being a "pure spider". Vladimir later assists Ana Kravinoff and Alyosha Kravinoff with capturing Anya Corazon as well as a second attempt to capture Arachne. Alyosha then adopted a more relaxed, suave, and charismatic personality. As "Al," he began dating Timber Hughes, an aspiring actress who worked as a waitress at an all-villain bar. Al sought to help Timber's career in Hollywood by becoming a director. Despite celebrity connections, Al's efforts were stonewalled by arrogance, greed, and corruption within the Hollywood elite. Forced out of Hollywood by the powerful Rothstein brothers, Al is beaten while Timber was brutally raped. Both Al and Timber exacted vengeance which involved defeating another half-brother Ned Tannengarden (who was later killed by Chameleon) and left Hollywood to pursue heroics in New York City. Alyosha is one of few mutants who retained their superhuman powers after the M-Day. He is one of the superpowered beings recruited within the Beyond! miniseries by Stranger posing as the Beyonder. Alyosha Kraven later eventually becomes fully deranged from experimenting with his father's potions, and in his madness began collecting a zoo of animal-themed superhumans. In the end, the Punisher (whom Kraven referred to as "Tiny Monkey") sabotages this zoo. Kraven escapes to the Savage Land. During "The Gauntlet" storyline, Alyosha returned to New York to help his half-sister Ana and stepmother Sasha in the Grim Hunt by hunting Kaine. They then witness Spider-Man's fight with the Lizard. He was present at the ritual where Sasha sacrificed Mattie Franklin as part of a revival ritual that resurrects his half-brother Vladimir as a humanoid lion-like creature. Nedrocci Tannengarden There was a third son named Nedrocci "Ned" Tannengarden who tried to kill Alyosha, but he was murdered by the Chameleon (who, during that time, believed himself to be the original Kraven the Hunter). Sinister later cut a deal with Cletus Kasady to obtain a sample of the Carnage symbiote. After removing the sentience from the Carnage symbiote sample, Sinister combined it with the DNA of the original X-Men and Kraven the Hunter, creating Xraven. Xraven has all of the powers of the original X-Men as well as retractable claws. Ana Kravinoff The daughter of Kraven the Hunter, Ana Kravinoff becomes the first female to take on the name of Kraven the Hunter. She first appears tracking Spider-Man to his apartment, but mistakenly believes Peter Parker's roommate Vin Gonzales was him. She then methodically ruins Vin's life, and captures him. Despite Vin's claims that he was not Spider-Man, Kraven prepared to hunt him, but was stopped by the real Spider-Man, who was wearing Daredevil's costume (which had eyelids for him to be able to see). At the end, it is revealed that she is Kraven's daughter by a woman called Sasha Aleksandra Nikolaevich (also the mother of the deceased Vladimir Kravinoff). She and her mother have recently set about forming an alliance of Spider-Man villains to get revenge on the wall-crawler and kidnap Madame Web. They also hired Deadpool to keep him distracted while they kidnapped Mattie Franklin. Ana assists her half-brother Alyosha Kravinoff into attempting to abduct Arachne, only to run afoul of Spider-Man, who repels them. Ana alongside Alyosha, Electro, and Diablo are present when Sasha sacrifices Mattie Franklin as part of a ritual that resurrects Vladimir Kravinoff as a lion-like creature. During this time, Ana reveals that she has Inhuman ancestry on her mother's side, something she discovered while hunting down her mother's family members (and for which her father tried to kill her when she told him). She came to Utolan looking for a cure, but was sedated by order of the councilwoman Sanara, who took some of her genetic material for use in the city's eugenics-based practices. Ana managed to escape and hunted down Sanara. She was exposed to Terrigen Mist during her hunt, which awakened her Inhuman genes. As she prepares to kill Sanara, Ana notes that it is time to "embrace [her] nature". During the "Sinister War" storyline, Ana Kravinoff is discussed as a new recruit for the Sinister Syndicate. Kindred's centipedes bring the Sinister Syndicate and Ana to Kindred where Foreigner's group and the Superior Foes are, as Kindred holds a contest for someone to take down Spider-Man so that he can be punished for his sins. Ana is with the Sinister Syndicate when they intercept Overdrive, who was carrying Spider-Man away from Foreigner's group. Sasha Kravinoff Kraven's wife and Ana and Vladimir's mother Sasha Kravinoff was part of a Gauntlet on Spider-Man's life, causing chaos and weakening Spider-Man prior to the events that led to resurrecting Kraven from the grave. Last Son of Kraven The Last Son of Kraven (one of the many Sons of Kraven) was cloned from Kraven's DNA by the High Evolutionary. He hunted his fellow clones and returned to Kraven, where he proved himself by presenting him with the skulls of his fellow clones. The Last Son of Kraven later chased after the Black Cat. Kraven donned the black Spider-Man suit, where he tricked the Last Son of Kraven into killing him. ==Reception==

IGN ranked Kraven the Hunter 53rd in their "Top Comic Book Villains" list. David Harth of Comic Book Resources described Kraven the Hunter as a "cool villain", praising the design of the character, and described him as "more than a match for Spider-Man." ==Other versions==

Many alternate universe versions of Kraven the Hunter have appeared throughout the character's publication history. In The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Kraven appears as a member of Regent's Sinister Six. An alternate universe version of Sergei Kravinoff from Earth-31 called Hunter Spider, who acquired spider-like abilities after being bitten by a giant spider, appears in End of the Spider-Verse. In Marvel Noir, Kraven is a former animal trainer who is later killed by man-eating spiders. Bushman the Hunter, a composite character based on Kraven and Bushman, appears in Infinity Wars. In Spider-Man: Life Story, Venom bonded with Kraven before he could kill himself, eventually reducing Kraven to a skeleton. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Sergei Kravinoff is a Russian Australian and the host of a reality series where he hunts down dangerous animals. Kraven intends to hunt and kill Spider-Man on live television to boost his ratings. Kraven receives enhancements that give him an animalistic appearance, but later appears with his enhancements removed. In the Ultimate Universe imprint, Kraven is a billionaire oligarch whose family was exiled from Russia during the "Rasputin Purge". Additionally, he is a lieutenant of Wilson Fisk who controls Staten Island on his behalf and later joins his Sinister Six to combat the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. ==In other media==

Television • Kraven the Hunter appears in The Marvel Super Heroes "Iron Man" segment episode "Cliffs of Doom", voiced by Chris Wiggins. • Kraven was intended to appear in Spider-Man (1967), but the producers were unable to use him due to his appearance in The Marvel Super Heroes. As such, original character Harley Clivendon (also voiced by Chris Wiggins) appears in his place. • Kraven the Hunter appears in the Spider-Man (1981) episode "The Hunter and the Hunted", voiced by Jack DeLeon. • Kraven the Hunter appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "The Crime of All Centuries", voiced by Robert Ridgely. • Director Ryan Coogler revealed that he originally planned to include Kraven the Hunter in Black Panther. • Director Jon Watts stated he was interested in including Kraven in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This would later become a backup plan in case their original intentions for the film to include the concept of the multiverse did not pan out. • Two alternate universe-displaced variants of Kraven the Hunter make non-speaking cameo appearances in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as prisoners of the Spider-Society. • Kraven the Hunter appears in a self-titled film, portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an adult and Levi Miller as a young adult. This version was attacked by a lion before he was saved by Calypso, who gave him a potion that granted him the abilities of nature's greatest predators. Ever since, Kraven uses his newfound powers to hunt criminals. Video games • Kraven the Hunter appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six. This version is a member of the eponymous team. • Kraven the Hunter appears as a boss in the Xbox port of Spider-Man (2002), voiced by Peter Lurie. • Kraven the Hunter appears in Marvel Avengers Alliance as a member of the Sinister Six. • Kraven the Hunter appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by JB Blanc. • Kraven the Hunter appears as a boss in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 film tie-in game, voiced by Steve Blum in the console version and Nolan North in the mobile version. • Kraven the Hunter appears as a playable character and boss in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Ronan Summers. • Kraven the Hunter appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2, voiced by Jim Pirri. This version is the leader of a group of private mercenaries called the "Hunters" who seeks to hunt various superpowered individuals in the hopes of finding someone he considers a worthy opponent to fight and kill him in battle before he dies of terminal cancer. Additionally, he killed his family and several supervillains off-screen as part of his quest. After nearly killing Spider-Man, Kraven fights Harry Osborn / Venom, who overpowers and kills him. Miscellaneous • Kraven the Hunter appears in The Amazing Spider-Man (1977). • Kraven the Hunter appears in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, portrayed by Christopher Tierney. In some productions, this version was an Oscorp scientist who was experimented on by the Green Goblin while in others, he was the comics' portrayal of Kraven. In all productions, he becomes a member of the Sinister Six. • A future incarnation of Kraven appears in ''Marvel's Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord'', voiced by Patrick Page. • Kraven the Hunter appears in a 1966 Aurora plastic model kit. • Kraven the Hunter appears in the 2024 TeamFourStar web series Kraven, played by Nick "Lanipator" Landis. Based on the Ultimate Marvel and self-titled film iterations of the character and the Liver King, this version is an unstable reality television star and conspiracy theorist who comes to New York to hunt and kill Spider-Man while promoting a film about his early life and his new reality show Kamp Kraven. ==See also==