Aaron Taylor-Johnson won’t be playing the only Spider-Man villain in next year’s Kraven the Hunter. His character’s half-brother — Chameleon — is coming along for the ride, too.
Deadline reports that actor Fred Hechinger (Fear Street) is set to play Chameleon in the upcoming Sony Spider-Man universe film, directed by J.C. Chandor. He’s the half-brother of Kraven and has the ability to impersonate anyone, which makes him a formidable foe for Spider-Man in the comics. However, Spider-Man isn’t appearing here, so we’d guess the story will dive more into what turns two brothers into anti-heroes/villains. Or, maybe, he’s the antagonist facing Taylor-Johnson’s protagonist.
As you can tell from that wild speculation, very little is known about Kraven the Hunter save for what we know from the comics and that Taylor-Johnson has apparently signed a multi-picture deal to play the character. Everyone expects, though, for the film to be in the mould of the Venom films and the upcoming Morbius, where a notable villain from the Spider-Man universe is given an origin story that makes him into a hero, even though he’s kind of not.
What’s cool about the film featuring Chameleon though is it places yet another popular, formidable Spidey-villain on the board for whatever Sony has in store. No one knows for sure what’s coming but after the super success not just of the Venom films, but Spider-Man: No Way Home — plus the crucial story beat that no one in the MCU remembers Peter Parker anymore — we might be heading into movies where these villains, which the audience has some compassion for, show down with the Web Slinger.
As for Hechinger, he first popped into the public conscious in Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, followed that up opposite Tom Hanks in News of the World, and was one of the stars of HBO’s The White Lotus, playing the son of Steve Zahn and Connie Britton. He also was one of the leads in Netflix’s excellent Fear Street trilogy which was released last year and is currently on Hulu’s Pam & Tommy in a small role. All of which has now led him to Marvel.
Kraven the Hunter is currently set for release January 13, 2023.