We learned last year that Aaron Taylor-Johnson would play Kraven the Hunter in the Marvel/Spider-Man character’s upcoming movie from Triple Frontier director J.C. Chandor for Sony, and while I had my choices for Kraven, I think that Taylor-Johnson is going to do a great job bringing the famed game-hunter to life. But with Kraven comes a slew of new characters to learn about—one being Chameleon, and now, we know who’s playing him!
Dmitri Nikolaievich Smerdyakov, a.k.a. Chameleon, is a Russian citizen and is the half brother of Sergei Kravinoff—you know, Kraven the Hunter. The two share a father, but Dmitri was taught to hate himself, as his father hated him because of who his mother was. The way that Dmitri would try to impress his brother Sergei was to use his impersonation skills on their neighbors and friends. Those impersonation skills would go on to be the basis of the Chameleon’s abilities. He can disguise himself as anyone he needs to in order to get the job done.
Who will play Chameleon?
Fred Hechinger is set to play Chameleon (a.k.a. Dmitri Smerdyakov) in the upcoming movie, and he has been having quite a career boost lately. The young actor was a breakout star of the hit HBO series White Lotus and has been garnering praise for his work. He then went on to star in the Hulu series Pam & Tommy before nabbing the role of Chameleon in the standalone Kraven film.
We’ve yet to see Chameleon show up in the live-action Spider-Man films, so it will be an interesting chance to see how they’ll bring him to life. Someone like Hechinger playing him is an interesting choice but one that, frankly, makes sense. Outside of White Lotus, he hasn’t been in a lot of recognizable roles so his ability to shift into the character and bring Chameleon’s gift to life should be easy for the actor.
What Chameleon’s presence means
While the Sony villain movies have brought other Spider-Man baddies to the screen (like Morbius bringing in Michael Keaton’s Vulture), it makes the most sense having Chameleon show up in Kraven the Hunter’s movie mainly because of their familial connection. Introducing us to Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven without having Chameleon there could have worked, but it would have then meant we needed to wait and see Chameleon somewhere else when Kraven showed up.
They’re connected by blood, and the movie now makes a bit more sense to me in general, and I can see where we might be going with both Kraven and Chameleon in the film. There’s no news on whether or not we’ll see a Spider-Man in the film, but if this is just a super villain origin story set around family drama? I’m honestly excited for it. But it’s also Kraven the Hunter, and I’ll always be excited for more of Sergei Kravinoff.
Fred Hechinger and Aaron Taylor-Johson are going to do great with this one, and I trust J.C. Chandor’s vision. I just need to know what it means for Peter Parker.
(image: HBO/Marvel Entertainment)
