Ariana DeBose is joining Sony’s Marvel Universe, which is continuing to produce offshoot films on Spider-Man characters. She is joining the upcoming Kraven the Hunter film.
According to Deadline, the West Side Story breakout star has joined Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor Johnson as Kraven, one of Spider-Man’s biggest villains. It’s rumored that DeBose will play Calypso, the villainess of the Kraven the Hunter comic books. Jodie Turner Smith was once attached to the film, and potentially this role, but nothing was ever confirme.d
Calypso has been described as “a voodoo priestess of Haitian descent” who was obsessed with Kraven the Hunter. She is sometimes written as being in a relationship with Kraven and is said to delight in “driving Kraven into fits of rage and furthering his hatred of Spider-Man.” Her last appearance is in Spectacular Spider-Man in 1998.
J.C. Chandor will direct with Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad producing. The screenplay is by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and Richard Wenk.
DeBose recently won her first SAG Award Sunday for her role as Anita in West Side Story. She said after her win, “It’s taken a long time for me to feel comfortable calling myself an actor. My roots come from the dance world and the Broadway stage. The Anita that we see on the screen took every bit of me, but she took 10 years to make and I’m extremely proud of her and of our film. And I really do believe that when you recognize one of us you recognize all of us in a way.”