Marvel Fans Stunned: ‘Black Panther’ Director Shares Which Villain Was Banned From First Movie

Ryan Coogler, the director behind both Black Panther films and the animated series Eyes of Wakanda, recently revealed that another Marvel villain was almost part of the first Black Panther movie.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Coogler confirmed that Kraven the Hunter, a Spider-Man villain, was briefly considered for the role.

Coogler explained that when he started working on the film, the story outline already included Erik Killmonger and Klaw as the main antagonists. “In the outline of villains were Klaw and Killmonger, but they weren’t sure. Klaw felt slightly modular to them, and obviously, it was the great Andy Serkis, so I’m hyped to work with him,” he said.

The director added that the plan was inspired by the Christopher Priest comic run, which originally included a fight between Black Panther and Kraven.

As a longtime Spider-Man fan, Coogler wanted to include Kraven in the film. “I was like, ‘Yo, can I have Kraven in this movie?’ They were like, ‘We don’t think so, but let us check.’ So, they hit Sony, and Sony was like, ‘Absolutely not.’ They came back to me like, ‘Yo, we can’t do it.’ So, I was like, ‘Okay,’” he shared.

Coogler admitted that the two-week process of developing ideas around Kraven was interesting, but in the end, it didn’t work out. “Thankfully, it was doomed from the jump,” he said, adding that Kraven would have replaced Klaw and prevented him from working with Andy Serkis.

The decision ended up benefiting the story. Klaw’s role helped connect Black Panther to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and also strengthened Killmonger’s plot, as Klaw’s death allows Killmonger to assert his claim to Wakanda. Coogler noted that using Kraven in the same way would have removed a major villain that the MCU hasn’t yet used.

Kraven did eventually get his own film through Sony Pictures in 2024, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, marking the character’s first and only appearance on the big screen so far.

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