Sergei Kravinoff, better known as Kraven The Hunter, is the best hunter in the Marvel universe and often comes toe-to-toe with Spider-Man in an attempt to prove himself as the ultimate hunter and warrior. Kraven is one of the most cunning Spider-Man villains,taking a more tactical and strategic approach when fighting the wall-crawling hero.
Kraven’s style of learning, tracking and stalking his prey has proven difficult for Spider-Man over the years, with him often getting the jump on the web-slinger during random encounters in New York City. Although, in true comic book fashion, the good guy (Spider-Man in this instance) often comes out on top, Kraven has defeated Spider-Man on multiple occasions.
5Hunted - Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #16 - #22
Kravens Ultimate Plan
In a direct successor to the Grim Hunt, readers see the newly resurrected Kraven The Hunter set out to defeat and collect numerousanimal-themed heroes and villainsin an attempt to teach them respect and prove himself the ultimate hunter. Throughout this story, Kraven hopes to cause enough damage and destruction to Spider-Man’s life. His hope is that Spider-Man will snap and kill him, giving Kraven the death he craves.
Throughout the storyline, Kraven captures and tortures Spider-Man, pushing him to the physical and mental edge yet again. While being trapped with former foe and friend Curt Connors (The Lizard), Peter has to watch while Billy Connors (a 12-year-old boy) and Black Cat are tortured. This alone breaks Spider-Man’s spirit, leading him to help Curt Connors unleash The Lizard. Kraven then makes it seem like The Lizard went on a murderous rampage, causing Spider-Man to break down, feeling responsible for The Lizard’s actions.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2introduces fans to one of the most powerful versions of Kraven The Hunter. In the game,Kraven manages to kill most of Spider-Man’s toughest villains with relative ease. This has a direct impact on Spider-Man, as he prefers to rehabilitate and capture his villains. Kraven then goes on to stab Peter, nearly killing him in the process, leaving him severely injured.
Like most interactions between Spider-Man and Kraven, the wall-crawling hero comes out on top. However, Kraven does defeat Spider-Man in multiple battles and by achieving his main plan. Kraven’s whole mission throughout the story was to essentially prove himself as the ultimate hunter before his inevitable death, and he did achieve that. He defeated Peter Parker with ease,causing mass chaos throughout the city that Peter swore to protectand driving Peter down a darker path.
3Amazing Spider-Man (Vol.6) #33
The Hunter Becomes The Hunted
InAmazing Spider-Man Vol.6, Sergei Kravinoff (Kraven The Hunter) returns to cause even more torment in Peter Parker’s life. His clone inadvertently infects Spider-Man with the evil of Norman Osborn, causingSpider-Man to become darker and more evil than ever before. Although Kraven The Hunter doesn’t defeat Spider-Man in a physical sense, he essentially turns Peter Parker into everything that goes against what it means to be Spider-Man.
InIssue 33,Spider-Man hunts down Kraven’s clone and sets out to bury him alive with nothing but a rifle in the hopes that Kraven’s clone would end his own life, much like the original Kraven did in the events of Kraven’s Last Hunt. This whole scheme that Peter had devised could only be described as horrific, and was a true turning point for the character of Spider-Man.
2Grim Hunt - Amazing Spider-Man #634 - #637
Kraven’s Family Take Their Revenge On Spider-Man
TheGrim Huntstoryline sees the family of Kraven The Hunter attempt to exact revenge on Spider-Man, blaming him for the death of Sergei Kravinoff. Kraven’s ex-wife, Sasha, sets out to resurrect her late husband byhunting Spider-themed charactersand using their blood in a dark magic ritual. Throughout the storyline, close allies to Peter likeKaine, Spider-Woman, and Madam Webare hunted down and killed by the Kravinoff family, driving Peter to the edge of insanity.
Despite Kraven being dead for a significant portion of the storyline, he and his family manage to defeat Spider-Man by driving him to never-before-seen levels of aggression and violence, even driving him to kill. At one point during the final battle, Peter goes so far as to tear Sasha Kravinoff’s face off as revenge for killing Kaine. Much like other entries on this list, although Kraven and his family didn’t defeat Spider-Man in battle, they defeated him mentally, driving him to become savage and almost unrecognizable.
1Kraven’s Last Hunt - Web of Spider-Man #31
One Of The Greatest Spider-Man Stories Of All Time
In one of the most iconic Spider-Man stories, Kraven The Hunter finally achieves his goal and defeats Spider-Man, both physically and mentally. Believing he was edging towards his death, Sergei Kravinoff set out to finally achieve his lifelong goal of defeating Spider-Man, an adversary who constantly escaped his grasp. InKraven’s Last Hunt, Kraven manages to ambush the wall-crawling hero, subdue him with a tranquillizing dart, and bury him alive for two weeks.
During those two weeks, Kraven assumed the mantle of Spider-Man in an attempt to prove that he could be a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker ever could be. However, he only managed to tarnish the public’s perception of Spider-Man. Although Peter eventually won, the physiological torture he went through during the two weeks in the coffin had a long-lasting impression on the usually friendly hero, driving him down a darker path for some time.
