Marvel’s newest version ofKraven The Hunterhas a dark connection to theX-Menof his universe. InUltimate Spider-Man #8, written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto, Wilson Fisk assembles a group of supervillains to hunt down Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, formingthe Ultimate Universe’s version of the Sinister Six.
The members of Fisk’s Sinister Six are the allies he has in New York, with one of them being a brand-new version of Kraven The Hunter. In this universe, Kraven the Hunter is reimagined as a Russian billionaire who doesn’t escape Russia under threat of revolution,but is driven out of the country during the “Rasputin Purge.“As a result, he is not only a skilled hunter, but one even more sadistic than prior incarnations. Not to mention one with a unique grudge against some iconic mutants.
The Ultimate Kraven Was Exiled By Colossus & Magik
The Rasputins who exiled Kraven from his homeland are none other than the Ultimate Piotr Rasputin and Illyana Rasputina, better known as Colossus and Magik of the X-Men.As allies of the Maker, they were granted control over the Eurasian Republic, which included Russia. In their attempts to exercise control over the region, they initiated the Rasputin Purge, which saw the exile of Kraven and his family from Russia. Following his exile, Kraven was given Staten Island as his territory by Wilson Fisk, and has made it his hunting grounds since.
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Kraven’s New X-Men Connection Adds a Dark Layer To The Ultimate Universe
This new connection between Kraven and the X-Men adds a layer of interconnective tissue to the Ultimate Universe, showing how the Maker’s council and their actions affect unexpected characters. Rather than keeping each of the books contained in their own sphere of influence, this connection reaffirms the idea of these books taking place in a wider universe.Specifically for Kraven, that means giving him a reason to hunt the Rasputin family in the future.
This new version of Kraven the Hunter falls in line with the mission statement of Hickman’sUltimate Spider-Man: the exploration of these characters through a radically different history. While Kraven shares many traits with his mainstream counterpart, his dark connection to the X-Men differentiates him in a major way, reinventing the character for the Ultimate Universe. While his primary aim appears to be hunting Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, there is no doubt that Kraven’s history with the Rasputins will play a role in how his character develops in the future.
