Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Dimitri Symostivych Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary to the superhero Spider-Man, he has since endured as one of the web-slinger's most formidable foes, and is part of the collective of adversaries that make up Spider-Man's rogues' gallery. Kraven has also come into conflict with other heroes, such as Black Panther and Tigra. He is the half-brother of the Chameleon and one of the founding members of the Sinister Six.
In Kraven's first appearance, he refers to Spider-Man as "the most dangerous game", a direct reference to the 1924 short story of the same name, in which General Zaroff, a Russian big-game hunter (and a primary inspiration for the character), hunts people for sport.
Kraven is typically portrayed as a renowned big-game hunter whose goal in life is to beat Spider-Man to prove himself as the world's greatest hunter. Though he is often overconfident in his own abilities, which he likes to boast about, he possesses a great sense of honor, and treats his adversaries as equals until proven otherwise. Because of this, Kraven has sometimes been depicted as an antihero and has teamed up with other heroes, including Spider-Man, the Avengers of 1959, and Squirrel Girl, in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015–2019).
The character is widely regarded as one of Spider-Man's most formidable enemies, and has gained considerable attention from storylines such as 1987's "Kraven's Last Hunt," 2010's "Grim Hunt", 2015–2019's "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl's Friend Kraven", and 2019's "Hunted". In 2009, Kraven was ranked as IGN's 53rd-greatest comic book villain of all time.[1] The character has appeared in numerous Spider-Man media adaptations over the years including animated series and video games. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will star as the character in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) live-action film Kraven the Hunter (2024).
