Let's make this simple: You want to know if there are any post- or mid-credits scenes in Kraven the Hunter. The answer is no, there are no scenes after the credits.
Kraven the Hunter has arrived to cap off a busy year of new releases in Sony's Spider-Man Universe line, following Madame Web and Venom: The Last Dance. Unfortunately, it also appears to be the last entry in this cinematic universe. How does the new movie set up the future of Sony's Spider-Man Universe, and does it even matter now?
Read on for a full breakdown of the ending and how it may (but probably doesn’t) set up future Sony Marvel movies, but beware of full spoilers for Kraven the Hunter ahead!
Kraven the Hunter’s Ending Explained
Kraven the Hunter is all about taking an iconic Spider-Man villain and recasting him as a more sympathetic anti-hero. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Sergei Kravinoff is a cold-blooded killer, sure, but his wrath is reserved for illegal big game hunters, drug lords, and anyone else who threatens the natural world. That mission becomes personal when Kraven’s half-brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) is kidnapped by Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), a man who aspires to overthrow Kraven’s crime boss father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe), and prove himself the strongest figure in the criminal underworld.
The movie culminates in a major showdown between Kraven and Aleksei in Siberia, with Kraven making mincemeat of Aleksei’s goons, only to encounter the superhuman assassin known as The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott). The Foreigner poisons Kraven with a rare toxin that causes hallucinations, paralysis, and a painful death. Kraven hallucinates dozens of spiders, foreshadowing his eventual rivalry with Spider-Man. However, for the second time in his life, he’s saved by Calypso (Ariana DeBose), who kills The Foreigner and administers more of her life-saving potion.
Kraven then takes on Aleksei directly, quickly learning why his foe is nicknamed “The Rhino.” Thanks to the genetic engineering efforts of a man named Miles Warren (more on him later), Aleksei can transform into a literal human rhino with super-strength and durable armor. Ultimately, though, Kraven manages to kill his more powerful opponent through a combination of wits and relying on the animal kingdom for assistance. He’s practically Aquaman with the way he can convince animals to do his bidding in this movie.
Before he dies, Aleksei makes Kraven see the truth behind Dmitri’s kidnapping. It was all orchestrated by Nikolai. Kraven pays his father a final visit on his hunting trip in Russia. Nikolai reveals that he manipulated Kraven into conflict with Aleksei because he knew his son would ultimately prevail and destroy a powerful rival. However distant they’ve become, Nikolai respects his son’s superior strength. That doesn’t stop Kraven from summoning a ravenous bear to devour his father.
Ultimately, Kraven succeeds in rescuing Dmitri and punishing those responsible for threatening his family. However, it’s a bittersweet ending, at best. Reuniting with Dmitri one year later, Kraven discovers that his brother has taken over their late father’s criminal empire and become exactly the sort of man he despises. What’s more, Dmitri has also turned to Miles Warren for a little genetic enhancement. Already gifted with an uncanny ability to mimic voices, Dmitiri is now a shapeshifter who can impersonate anyone. His nickname “The Chameleon” is more fitting than ever. And should Kraven choose to add Dmitri’s name to his list of prey, he may find it difficult to track down a man who can look like anyone.
With no family left, Kraven returns to the family manor to find that Nikolai left a parting gift for him. The lion head that was once mounted on the wall has been converted into a ceremonial vest. Kraven dons the vest, sits on his throne, and prepares to prove himself as the world’s greatest hunter.
Does Kraven the Hunter Have a Post-Credits Scene?
Kraven the Hunter has no mid or post-credits scenes, which makes it a bit of an outlier in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Every other one of these movies apart from Madame Web has had some sort of post-credits scene. These scenes have always set up future conflicts, whether it was Morbius teasing an alliance between Jared Leto’s Morbius and Michael Keaton’s Vulture or Venom: Let There Be Carnage teeing up a brief MCU crossover.
But as mentioned earlier, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is reportedly dead now. The studio likely decided there was no point leaving fans with a post-credits tease that wasn’t going to be followed up. It’s bad enough fans were left with a tease for Knull in Venom: The Last Dance that will now go nowhere.
It’s enough to wonder if there was a post-credits scene planned at some point, though. With the movie alluding to Professor Miles Warren multiple times, perhaps Warren could have been revealed in the flesh. Warren is better known in the comics as The Jackal, a mad scientist who transforms himself into a human jackal. He’s most notable for creating clones of Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and others and paving the way for the infamous Clone Saga crossover in the ‘90s.
Another possibility is that we could have seen Morbius and Vulture pop up again to recruit Kraven for their growing supervillain team. It definitely feels as though Sony was attempting to build towards its own Sinister Six, even if Spider-Man himself remains largely MIA in this universe.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter. There’s no post-credits scene in Kraven the Hunter, and the movie is reportedly the final entry in the SSU.
Is There a Future for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe?
Kraven the Hunter does loosely set up future conflicts in the SSU. The movie is effectively an origin story for Kraven himself, laying the foundation for who he is and what motivates him to eventually commence his feud with Spider-Man. For most of the film, Kraven views himself as a heroic, even noble figure, very much in opposition to his self-centered father. But by the end, most of that heroism is stripped away. We see that Kraven is every bit as arrogant as Nikolai. And with no real family left, Kraven has nothing but his own growing legend to fall back upon.
Kraven is convinced that he’s the world’s greatest hunter and that no true rival exists. As in the comics, the video game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and other Spider-Man media, that confidence will inevitably be shaken when Kraven catches wind of the existence of Spider-Man. This is a superhuman man wearing the image of the one thing Kraven seems to fear. He’ll be compelled to travel to New York City and test himself against the ultimate prey.
The movie not only sets up a future Kraven vs. Spider-Man storyline (perhaps one drawing from the seminal graphic novel Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt), it also tees up two other key Spider-Man villains in The Jackal and Hechinger’s Chameleon (though, oddly, it kills off Rhino before he has a chance to face Spider-Man). We may still have yet to see a proper Spider-Man in this universe, but he’s developed an impressive rogues gallery nonetheless.
But again, it’s probably all for naught at this point. As reported by TheWrap, Sony is shelving this cinematic universe, with a source saying the studio has “developed what they want to develop for now" and is now focused on the next MCU Spider-Man film. This comes as Kraven the Hunter is tracking to perform even worse at the box office in its opening weekend than Madame Web.
After a string of critical and commercial misfires, we can hardly blame Sony for putting the SSU on the back burner. This entire universe was built on the solid foundation of 2018’s Venom, which grossed a very respectable $856 million at the global box office. Sony has repeatedly failed to replicate that success, either with the Venom sequels themselves or spinoffs like Morbius and Madame Web. Kraven’s poor box office performance looks to be the final nail in the coffin for a cinematic universe that never managed to flourish.
That’s not to say Sony won’t continue to develop new Spider-Man projects independent of Marvel Studios. They’ve found far greater critical and commercial success with the animated Spider-Verse movies. The studio is hard at work on finishing the third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and spinoffs are reportedly being considered as well.
Sony also looks to be pivoting to streaming to some extent. While the Silk: Spider Society series is dead now, production is currently underway on a Spider-Man Noir series featuring Nic Cage reprising his Spider-Verse role in live-action. That series boasts something none of the SSU movies could – Spider-Man himself (or, at least, a version of Spidey).
Sony seems to have realized that Marvel fans don’t have much patience left for Spider-Man spinoff movies that ignore Spider-Man. Whether that means Sony will work more closely with Marvel Studios in the future or prioritize projects like Spider-Man Noir that feature alternate universe versions of Peter Parker, they’re clearly shifting away from these villain-centric movies. Kraven the Hunter may well be the last of a dying breed.
Still, saying that Sony has “developed what they want to develop for now" doesn’t mean the SSU is officially and permanently dead. There’s always a chance Sony will eventually follow up on Venom: The Last Dance’s ending and give us that Knull movie that was teased. Maybe Knull is a big enough threat to justify bringing Venom back to the MCU. But regardless of what happens with Andy Serkis’ Knull and Tom Hardy’s Venom, we wouldn’t hold our breath for Taylor-Johnson to don the lion skin vest again anytime soon.
For more on Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, check out IGN’s Kraven the Hunter review and brush up on every Spider-Man movie and series in development.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
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