Key Highlights:
- Insomniac Games has released a new character poster giving players a closer look at Kraven the Hunter ahead of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
- Kraven is bringing an army of Hunters to New York as part of his Great Hunt for an opponent capable of matching him.
- The May gameplay reveal had already established Kraven’s role, including his search for an equal and his Hunters’ pursuit of the Lizard.
Insomniac Games has shared a new character poster for Kraven the Hunter, giving players a closer look at the villain ahead of the October 20 launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5.
Released on September 6, the artwork shows Kraven crouched in a jungle setting with his heavy fur clothing and hunting knife clearly visible. Insomniac accompanied the image by declaring Marvel’s New York his new hunting ground and confirming that he is bringing an army of Hunters with him.
The poster is a fresh character spotlight rather than Kraven’s first visual reveal. Insomniac had already introduced him in the first Spider-Man 2 gameplay reveal in May, when the hunter dismissed his latest opponent as unworthy and demanded an equal.
One of Kraven’s followers then presented New York as a potential hunting ground. The accompanying display identified Peter Parker, Miles Morales and several familiar characters as possible prey before Kraven ordered the beginning of the Great Hunt.
Insomniac’s official gameplay breakdown provided more context. The developer described Kraven as searching for an equal and introduced his Hunters as a new enemy faction. The gameplay sequence later showed those forces pursuing Dr. Curt Connors, better known as the Lizard, through Queens and along the East River.
That key difference makes Kraven unique from a villain simply attempting to control New York. What Insomniac has revealed so far suggests that the city itself is valuable to him because of the powerful people living within it.
Jim Pirri voices Kraven in the sequel, with the actor confirming his involvement following the May gameplay reveal. His performance accompanies a version of the character that keeps much of Kraven’s established visual identity while adapting it to Insomniac’s more grounded character design.
Kraven himself has a much longer history with Spider-Man than the original article suggested. Marvel’s own archive confirms that Sergei Kravinoff first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 in August 1964, written by Stan Lee and pencilled by Steve Ditko.
The comic version is defined by his obsession with hunting increasingly dangerous prey, with Spider-Man eventually becoming one of his greatest challenges. Insomniac appears to be expanding that basic idea by giving Kraven an entire population of heroes, villains and enhanced individuals to pursue.
I think that is the most interesting part of Insomniac’s interpretation. Kraven does not arrive simply because Peter Parker exists. The Great Hunt potentially puts both Spider-Men in the unusual position of protecting people they would normally be trying to stop themselves.
Exactly what Kraven wants remains deliberately unclear at this stage. Insomniac has confirmed that he is looking for an equal, while the July story trailer presents his arrival as the beginning of a wider mystery surrounding why the Hunters are in New York and what they are pursuing.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches exclusively for PlayStation 5 on October 20, 2023.
Later update: The finished game reveals the reason behind Kraven’s hunt. He is suffering from terminal cancer and wants to die fighting an opponent powerful enough to defeat him.
His search for a worthy death drives the Great Hunt, while GLN’s later analysis of Kraven’s targets covers the characters he pursued and why some of those choices were unusual.
