While "Kraven the Hunter" is yet to see a full release, Sony's bold attempt at revising the character's origin and skillset isn't going over too well with fans. Many have particularly criticized the decision to grant the character his powers through lion's blood as a bizarre change that borders on outright nonsensical. "The way Kraven gets powers in that trailer is so laughably bad it felt like a parody," @bigmonkeong tweeted.
Others noted the similarity between Kraven's new origin and Spider-Man's traditional backstory as a regular human who receives his powers through a radioactive spider bite. "I understand the thought process that leads from 'Spider-Man got his powers from a spider bite and Morbius got his powers from a bat bite so Kraven got his powers from a lion bite' but that doesn't mean you should necessarily follow that train of thought," @azalben wrote.
Nonetheless, some viewers have defended the change, pointing out that certain previous adaptations of the character have leaned into this sort of alternative interpretation before. "People are acting like Kraven having animal powers is some crazy idea," @Sorazure15 tweeted along with four attached photos of the villain's appearance from the animated series "The Spectacular Spider-Man." In that show, the character eventually transforms from his usual self into an animal-human hybrid, thanks to injections of a feline-based formula.
