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Who is Kraven the Hunter?

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Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery is composed of animal-themed characters like the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and plenty more, but also of people who altered—voluntarily or not—their bodies to become super-powered or who built some kind of devices to commit crimes like Sandman, Electro, Shocker, Hammerhead, Hydro-man, and of course, the Green Goblin.

Kraven the Hunter found its place in the middle of that. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (see our Spider-Man Reading Order to find the story), Kraven came to New York wanting to hunt Spider-Man. This Russian is after “the most dangerous game.”—like another famous fictional Russian big game hunter, General Zaroff.

His real name is Sergei Kravinoff and he loves animals and respects them, that’s why he prefers to hunt with his bare hands. He follows a code of honor, but that doesn’t stop him from consuming a mystical serum to give himself enhanced strength—and slow the aging process. This potion also enhanced his senses, making him more deadly.

The son of an aristocrat who fled to the US after the end of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, Kravinoff is an educated man, an Olympic-level athlete, and a gifted tactician who is more than familiar with all sorts of poisons.

Naturally, Kraven the Hunter didn’t kill Spider-man during his first hunt. His overconfidence got the better of him, but he was still one of Spider-Man’s most formidable enemies. A statute that was solidified by the famous 1987 storyline “Fearful Symmetry: Kraven’s Last Hunt”—one of the best Spidey stories of all time. That was the end of Kraven, but what an end!

Kraven apparently killed Spider-Man and decided to take his place, proving once and for all his superiority. Of course, Peter Parker came back but they do not fight. Kraven had won. He has nothing more to prove and, at peace finally, he can retire—shall we say.

This was one glorious conclusion for a character like Sergei Kravinoff, and it stays that way up until 2009 with the Grim Hunt saga. The Kravinoff family comes after the spider-themed superheroes in order to bring back Kraven. This violent saga pushed Spider-Man to its limits and extended the family story of Kraven.

From the start, it’s established that Kraven the Hunter is the half-brother of The Chameleon (Dmitri Smerdyakov), the first-ever adversary of Spider-Man, but not the deadliest. The Kravinoff family also counts Vladimir, a son of Sergei, aka the “Grim Hunter”; Alyosha, Vladimir half-brother who became the second Kraven the Hunter; Ana, Sergei’s daughter who became at some point the first female to take on the name of Kraven the Hunter; Sasha, Kraven’s wife, and Ana’s mother.

Kraven didn’t only team up with his extended family to hunt the Spider. He is one of the founding members of the Sinister Six. The famous group of super-villains first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (January 1964). Tired of losing against Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, contacted Electro, Mysterio, the Sandman, the Vulture, and, of course, Kraven the Hunter. Together they could defeat their enemy once and for all, but they all wanted to be the ones to win, and they all lost once more.

Nevertheless, the Sinister Six was a good idea and came back—though, Kraven was not always part of the team. In fact, Kraven has not always been considered a super-villain. He occasionally acts as an anti-hero. He even teamed up with Spider-Man himself, and with the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

But before anything else, Kraven is a hunter. And the hunt continues (see recently in the pages of X-Force during the “A.X.E.: Judgment Day” storyline).

Best Kraven the Hunter Stories

First, if you know nothing about the character, Marvel released a short collection of tales that can serve as an introduction if you will:

  • Marvel-Verse: Kraven The Hunter
    Collecting Marvel Action Spider-Man (2018) #5-6, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (2005) #7, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes (2010) #4, Spidey (2015) #9.

Now, what follows is a selection of must-read stories featuring Kraven the Hunter, if you are interested in familiarizing more properly with the character:

Some older stories:

For some humorous version of Kraven:

 

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