Who is the Foreigner? The New Kraven the Hunter Villain, Explained
Fans of Spider-Man’s villains have another reason to rejoice: A Kraven the Hunter movie is in the works, and it’s currently scheduled for a January 2023 release. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who previously played Pietro in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron, will be playing Kraven himself, and Christopher Abbott (Catch-22, On the Count of Three) has reportedly now been cast as the Foreigner, the movie’s villain. Who is the Foreigner, and where does he fit within the Spider-Man universe? Read on to find out!
Details about Kraven the Hunter are currently being kept under wraps, but in the comics, Kraven is one of Spidey’s most famous adversaries. A big-game hunter named Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven is determined to prove that he’s the best hunter the world, which leads him to various run-ins with Spider-Man and other Marvel heroes, including Black Panther and Squirrel Girl. As an antihero, though, Kraven isn’t always completely villainous, and sometimes finds himself on the side of good.
If the formula of a Spider-Man villain turned anti-hero sounds familiar to you, you might be thinking of 2018’s Venom, 2021’s Venom: Let There be Carnage, and Morbius, which is due out April 1. Kraven the Hunter will be the next film in the Spider-Man Universe that Sony is slowly building by putting classic Spider-Man villains in the spotlight.
Who is the Foreigner?
Like details about Kraven himself, details about Foreigner’s character in the film haven’t been revealed yet. Here’s what we know from the comics!
The Foreigner was introduced in 1986 in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #115, when he made a bet with his fellow villain Chance that Chance couldn’t defeat Spider-Man. The Foreigner is a mercenary and assassin whose main abilities include a mastery of martial arts, firearms, and disguises. He also has the ability to put opponents in a ten-second trance by staring into their eyes. This trance creates the illusion that the Foreigner can teleport and move at super-speed, when in reality the opponent is merely too disoriented to see him.
As for the Foreigner’s personal life, in the comics, he’s formerly married to Silver Sable, and the two of them maintain a love-hate relationship in which they periodically try to kill each other. The Foreigner also spends a brief amount of time romantically involved with Black Cat.
Along with Abbott-Johnson as the Foreigner, Kraven the Hunter will also feature Ariana DeBose as Calypso, Fred Hechinger as Kraven’s brother Chameleon, Alessandro Nivola as an unknown villain, and Russell Crowe in an unknown role.
(images: Marvel Comics)
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