Kraven the Hunter Casts West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose

Ariana DeBose had just started turning heads with her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and Sony is jumping on the chance to  have her in one of their upcoming blockbuster films.

Deadline reports that DeBose has been cast in the Spider-Man spinoff, Kraven the Hunter, and she will be playing the part of Calypso. She will be joining a cast which includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Fred Hechinger, and Russell Crowe.  

In the comics, Calypso was a voodoo specialist who was also the occasional love interest of Kraven. Of course, Calypso also had her own ulterior motives, and would sometime drive Kraven off the rails just for her own amusement.

If you ask me, the ‘witch doctor’ trope has kind of been played out, and I’m pretty sure there will be some people who will say that any portrayal of that character is offensive. With that in mind though, maybe Sony will try to rewrite the Calypso character to be more modernized.

Personally, Kraven the Hunter is still one of the more questionable Spider-Man spinoffs for me. While I do like the new solo Spidey films, the spinoffs like Venom still haven’t managed to catch up to the quality when it comes to writing. Who knows, maybe Morbius will turn our fine, but for now, I’m remaining skeptical for projects like Kraven and Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson.

Kraven the Hunter is set to release in theaters on Jan. 13, 2023. You can catch DeBose stunning run as Anita in West Side Story, now on Disney+. Morbius comes out on April 1.