Ariana DeBose, who recently won the Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in West Side Story, will be playing Calypso in Kraven the Hunter. The film is another addition to Sony’s expanding Marvel universe.
Kraven the Hunter will be directed by JC Chandor with Aaron Taylor-Johnson essaying the titular character. Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe recently joined the project. However, details around the storyline and Crowe’s character are still under wraps.
The characters Kraven and Calypso appear in Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man universe. While Kraven is one of Spiderman’s arch-nemeses and finds pleasure in hunting him down, Calypso appears as Kraven’s partner and paramour. Calypso debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #209 comic in 1963. She devotes herself to the practice of arcane magic to satisfy her hunger for power and control, and is also known as ‘The Witch’ and ‘Hunter of Souls’.
Kraven the Hunter is one of multiple projects lined up by Sony in its bid to expand the Spider-Man universe. While the characters belong to the Marvel Universe, Sony controls the film rights to Spider-Man and other related characters. The studio has previously churned out spin-off movies like Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). It also has the upcoming Jared Leto-starrer Morbius and Madame Web, which Dakota Johnson is in talks for.
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These spin-offs are notable and come at a time when there is not a lot of clarity surrounding the future of Spider-Man films.
The last movie featuring the web-slinging superhero, Spider-Man: No Way Home, became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Although, Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Sony’s Amy Pascal confirmed that another Spider-Man film is in the works, the studios have not divulged any further information.
Meanwhile, DeBose, who is also nominated for an Oscar for West Side Story, will next be seen in Matthew Vaughn’s action film Argylle, alongside Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L Jackson and Dua Lipa.