Kraven the Hunter casts Fred Hechinger as the villain Chameleon

Sony Pictures’ Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, has added Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus, The Woman in the Window) as the villain Chameleon.

Dmitri Nikolaievich Smerdyakov, aka Chameleon, is Kraven’s half-brother. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Chameleon is a master of disguise who can impersonate virtually anyone. He has caused trouble for Spider-Man on several occasions while pretending to be someone he’s not. He’s a villain that will keep you guessing, so be sure to watch him closely when Kraven the Hunter is released.

J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier, A Most Violent Year) is directing from a screenplay by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing.

Born Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven the Hunter is a Russian immigrant whose aristocratic family fled to America following the Russian Revolution. With intensive training and the help of a potion that gave him superhuman abilities, including increased strength, speed, reflexes, and enhanced senses, Kraven became a fearsome big-game hunter who tackled the most dangerous game on the planet, preferably with his bare hands. Kraven is also one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains, and, in one of his most memorable comic-book stories, Kraven’s Last Hunt, even defeats Spider-Man by seemingly killing him and burying him. Kraven then assumed Spider-Man’s identity by donning his own Spidey outfit and set out to prove himself superior at his former adversary’s own game.

In addition to Kraven the Hunter, Sony also has Morbius flying into theaters on April 1, 2022. A movie spinning around Madame Web is also in development, with Dakota Johnson in the title role. Madame Web first appeared in the 1980s in “The Amazing Spider-Man” No. 210. She is a clairvoyant mutant who specializes in predicting the future. She is typically depicted as being a blind, paralyzed old woman who is surrounded by a web-like machine that helps keep her alive.

Chameleon is bound to cause plenty of trouble in Kraven the Hunter. Whether that’s for his half-brother or other characters in the film remains to be seen. My advice is to watch everyone closely and be on the lookout for any telltale signs that Chameleon is up to his signature shenanigans.