As the last stronghold of live-action Marvel characters outside the grasp of Disney and the MCU, Sony has been relentlessly attempting a cinematic universe of their own. Their latest venture, Kraven the Hunter, closed out 2024 with Sony’s first R-rated Marvel movie. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular apex predator, the film continued the streak of shifting Spider-Man’s foes into anti-heroes, if not outright heroes. J. C. Chandor directed, which felt promising after his work helming A Most Violent Year and Margin Call, but, ultimately, none of these characters have been proven to thrive in Spidey’s absence.
The list of deserving nitpicks and heavy grievances is long, but Kraven the Hunter created one wound for devotees of Spider-Man’s comic lore so piercing it cannot be ignored. Fred Hechinger was tasked with playing Kraven’s half-brother, Dimitri Kravinoff, better known as The Chameleon. Despite Hechinger’s undeniable charisma and through no fault of his own, Sony once again butchered a beloved figure of Marvel Comics.
Who Is The Chameleon in Marvel Comics?

Image via Marvel Comics

In Marvel Comics, Dimitri Smerdyakov (The Chameleon) is one of Spider-Man’s most interesting foes. He’s the half-brother of Sergei Kravinoff (Kraven the Hunter). Debuting in 1962’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, Dimitri grew up with his Sergei and their father, the Russian aristocrat Nikolai Kravinoff (portrayed by Russell Crowe in the movie). Through his years of trauma and mistreatment, Dimitri suppressed his identity, convincing himself that his upbringing with his half-brother was loving and nurturing.

With his true self evaporated, he became a Soviet spy, utilizing impersonation and mastery of disguise to infiltrate wherever needed. Much later, through experimental serums and genetic alteration, his powers became artificially intrinsic. With the ability to molecularly shift his skin and specialized clothing that morphs itself as needed, The Chameleon quickly became one of Spider-Man’s most diabolical opponents.
The Chameleon in ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Is Very Different From the Marvel Comics

Image via Sony Pictures

The Sony film maintained Dimitri’s status as Sergei’s half-brother, but nearly everything else about his live-action adaptation makes for wasted potential at best and offensive mockery at worst. The Chameleon is Spider-Man’s first-ever supervillain. It’s a wonder it took this long for him to appear in a movie, and what a loss it is that it’s not even in a clash against Spider-Man. He’s a character that lends itself to a more psychological battle, without the smoke and mirrors of Mysterio and certainly without the brutality of the Green Goblin or Venom. Peter Parker is forced to use his intellect and Spidey-Sense. Kraven the Hunter ​​​​​​at least gives Dimitri a knack for impersonations. However, he mainly uses it to entertain his brother or a crowd of patrons at his nightclub, offering renditions of famous songs that sound like the originals. One of his most essential powers is relegated to a cheap party trick.

Related

That’s Not Really How Kraven the Hunter Got His Powers… Is It?

Is that lion… radioactive?

Visually, his final moment in Kraven the Hunter at least leans fairly close to comic accuracy, but it’s a set-up for future stories that will likely never come. He briefly shows the classic, eerily homogeneous white face with a seam down the middle. However, the transformation (if we can even call it that) into The Chameleon occurs off-screen, with Dimitri simply explaining that he went to some scientist for his expertise. We’re left to assume that this scientist altered his genetic code in the same fashion as he did for Aleksei Systevich (Alessandro Nivola), which turned him into The Rhino. At his “big reveal,” his relationship with his brother has drastically shifted (for some reason). All the love between them (one of the very few redeeming aspects of the movie) has dissipated without justification. Rushed and silly, he’s just… The Chameleon now, I guess.
Let This Be the End of Sony’s Spider-Man Villain Cinematic Universe

Despite the feeling of betrayal, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Save for Tom Hardy consistently making it hard to hate his turn as Eddie Brock, the Sony outings were miss after miss. Venom pleased audiences well enough to justify a trilogy, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance following suit (decreasing in revenue, still), but every other attempt was swiftly brushed aside. Morbius and Madame Web, the laughable blunders they were, should’ve been the final nails in the coffin, but Sony just couldn’t leave it there. They had to bring Kraven and The Chameleon down with them.
Kraven the Hunter is in theaters now.
Buy Tickets

Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.

Release Date

December 13, 2024

Director

J.C. Chandor

Cast

Aaron Taylor-Johnson
, Russell Crowe
, Fred Hechinger
, Ariana DeBose
, Christopher Abbott
, Alessandro Nivola
, Levi Miller
, Chi Lewis-Parry
, Billy Barratt
, Jessica Zhou
, Michael Shaeffer
, Dritan Kastrati
, Greg Kolpakchi
, Elander Moore
, Filiz Fairweather
, Duran Fulton Brown
, Alex Skarbek
, Rachel Handshaw
, Preslav Shipkaliev
, Murat Seven
, Robert Ryan

Runtime

127 Minutes

Expand