It takes a family to raise a villain, and Sergei Kravinoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to violence and crime. Wanting to break free of his family’s bloody legacy, his decision ultimately leads him to become an even more terrifying criminal.
At the heart of it, Kraven’s relationship with his father is what forged his path to villainy. Nikolai Kravinoff, played by Russell Crowe, is the looming presence of fatherhood that Kraven wanted to remove himself from. “Nikolai is a very wealthy man, and his kids have grown up with great privilege,” Crowe says. “He’s also a very harsh judge, and he puts his kids under a lot of pressure because he expects them to succeed and excel. As they get a little older, it’s not necessarily a very comfortable place to be when your father is extremely successful and demanding, and has a penchant for violence.”
As Kraven trains for the hunt, he is aided by Calypso, played by Ariana DeBose. One of the few people in Kraven’s inner circle, she becomes an anchor in his life. “The relationship between Kraven and Calypso is meant to feel like lightning in a bottle,” says DeBose. “It’s sort of this cosmic, astrological, spiritual meeting of two beings who are just destined to be in each other’s lives.”
For DeBose, she and Calypso share the same motivation and drive in terms of her own lineage. “Calypso is exploring who she is, and a part of that is digging into her ancestry,” says DeBose. “I’ve talked a lot in my career about using your lineage and your heritage. It’s a point of pride, it’s a point of strength, it’s what makes you unique.”