Kraven the Hunter: 2025's Surprise Streaming Hit Despite Box Office Flop

2 hours ago 1

Ariana DeBose in the jungle talking to someone off camera in Kraven the Hunter

Published Jan 29, 2026, 1:25 PM EST

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Sony's best efforts to launch a shared universe of superhero movies that could challenge the MCU failed miserably, with not a single installment earning positive reviews. Many of them, in fact, are regarded as some of the worst superhero films ever made. Of the six films released in total, only three — Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Venom: The Last Dance — can be described as commercially successful. The other three all underperformed at the box office and received unusually poor reviews. The final nail in the franchise's coffin came at the end of 2024, with the release of Kraven the Hunter. The movie was dead on arrival, with even Sony's boss admitting that it stood no chance. However, despite the toxic reviews and disastrous box office results, Kraven the Hunter emerged as one of the biggest streaming hits of 2025.

According to newly released data from Nielsen, the superhero film was among the most-watched movies of 2025 in the "General Interest" category. This category was led by Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2, proving once again that The Sandman was ahead of the curve when it came to pivoting from theaters to streaming. He has delivered over half a dozen comedy blockbusters for Netflix and has also found the time to star in critically acclaimed awards contenders. Also on this list were movies such as Wicked, and direct-to-streaming titles such as Cameron Diaz's comeback vehicle Back in Action and the Russo Brothers' mega-budget tent-pole The Electric State. Directed by Oscar nominee J.C. Chandor and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the titular role, Kraven the Hunter claimed the number nine spot.

'Kraven the Hunter' Featured Two Oscar-Winners in Its Cast

The movie grossed about $60 million at the worldwide box office, against a reported budget of around $120 million. Also starring Oscar-winners Ariana DeBose and Russell Crowe, the film holds a 15% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Claiming no trophies with its rote story and shoddy special effects, Kraven the Hunter turns out to be a paper tiger." Kraven the Hunter failed to match even the lukewarm performances of Madame Web and Morbius, the two other standalone installments in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.