Aaron Taylor-Johnson will soon be starring in Kraven The Hunter, the latest attempt from Sony to make a decent film in the Spider-Man Universe. The film’s release has been pushed back several times throughout production, and in April, executives pushed it back once more, this time to December 13, 2024. The reason for this final release delay is because Sony wants audiences to have the availability to watch the film repeatedly in theaters, but if it’s anything like the poorly received Morbius or Madame Web, this won’t be an issue.

Sony Thinks Christmas Will Save Kraven

With a mid-December release date, Sony is hoping families will go see Kraven The Hunter in theaters “over and over again” during winter break, a time that, traditionally, offers more availability to audiences and sees higher film attendance.

Producer Matt Tolmach expressed his enthusiasm regarding the release date saying, “Christmas is the best release period there is,” claiming the release date shows how confident Sony feels about the movie.

But while Sony might feel confident that Kraven The Hunter will be a great movie, the rest of us are skeptical. Sony has a habit of putting out terrible films from the Spider-Man Universe.

Its last two features were torn apart by critics and audiences alike, with Morbius receiving a 15 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Madam Web only 11 percent.

Morbius

Critics claimed that 2022’s Morbius, starring Jared Leto, was a movie burdened with lackluster effects, monotonous performances, and a nearly incoherent plot.

Meanwhile, Madame Web went viral on social media for being so bad. With a track record like that, it’s hard to believe Kraven The Hunter will be anything good.

Kraven The Hunter is set to be the sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The first film, Venom, didn’t start the franchise off on a strong foot, having only received a 30 percent approval rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Still, the movie was a box office success, bringing in $856.1 million and countering a $100–116 million budget, which was all the studio needed to know to greenlight the next batch.

Venom

The second movie in the franchise did better, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage receiving a 57 percent approval rating. Financially, it didn’t do as well as the first, but it still succeeded, bringing in $506.9 million and countering a $110 million budget. From there, it’s been a downward spiral that’s left next to no confidence for Kraven The Hunter.

Madame Web

Despite its low critic score, Morbius was still a financial success for Sony, though the box office numbers dropped to $167.5 million, countering a lower budget of $75–83 million.

Madam Web, on the other hand, only made $100.3 million (countering a budget between $80–100 million), even after becoming a viral sensation and inspiring audiences to see it in theaters for the meme of how bad it was. Kraven The Hunter has a budget resting between $100–130 million, which means it has to do at least as well as Morbius just to break even.

Venom: The Last Dance

The next film in the franchise is Venom: The Last Dance, which releases in October. Kraven The Hunter follows in December. So this fall, we’ll get to see if Sony has finally figured out what makes a good superhero movie, or if Kraven The Hunter will be the end of the Sony Spider-Man Universe.