‘Kraven the Hunter’ Has Cast Its Rhino

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe—or SSU, if you will—will soon be expanding with the release of Kraven the Hunter. The film, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular Kraven, is slated for release this October. Kraven the Hunter will follow in the footsteps of Venom, Venom 2, and Morbius, continuing to feature characters from Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery. Recent footage released at CinemaCon, which has yet to debut online, has confirmed that another one of Spidey’s favorite villains is set to show up in the SSU: Rhino.

In the comics, Rhino, a.k.a. Aleksei Sytsevich, was a member of the Russian mob who underwent numerous life-threatening chemical and radiation treatments to become superhumanly strong. His armor, which was modeled after the hide of a rhinoceros, eventually bonded permanently to his new superhuman form, hence the supervillain name Rhino. Though Rhino and Kraven have teamed up together in the Marvel comics, it has been confirmed that Rhino will be this film’s main villain.

Kraven the Hunter won’t be Rhino’s first appearance in a feature film; the character previously had a small role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where he was played by Paul Giamatti opposite Andrew Garfield’s Spidey. Rhino was also part of the Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

So, who is playing Rhino in Kraven the Hunter?

Tapped to play Rhino in Kraven the Hunter is American actor Alessandro Nivola. He has dozens of acting credits to his name, but you may recognize Nivola best from titles such The Many Saints of Newark, in which he played the role of Dickie Moltisanti, and this year’s Boston Strangler, as Detective Conley opposite Keira Knightley.

Kraven the Hunter has officially been rated R, and descriptions of the footage released promise plenty of gruesome, powerful action. Alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alessandro Nivola, the movie will star Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as Kraven’s on-again-off-again lover Calypso, and Russell Crowe as Kraven’s dad, Nikolai Kravinoff.

Bring on October.

(featured image: Marvel Comics)