On Tuesday, Justin Kroll at Deadline exclusively revealed that Ariana DeBose has been cast as the villain Calypso in Sony’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter film. Her casting follows reports from less than two weeks ago that Fred Hechinger will be portraying the Chameleon.
As far as Calypso goes, even the biggest Spider-Man fans can be forgiven for not knowing much about her. Aside from being Kraven’s emotionally abusive girlfriend, she’s also a psychotic voodoo priestess. I’ve never been a huge fan of the character, although she did play a central role in Torment, which remains one of my favorite Spidey stories despite most folks not liking it.

Calypso (Marvel)
But most of us already knew that a movie about Kraven the Hunter would likely include Calypso. The real story here is that Sony was able to snag such an incredible actress for the part.
Until a few years ago, most of Ariana DeBose’s career had consisted of critically acclaimed performances on Broadway, including being part of the original cast of Hamilton. In 2021, however, she became a bonafide film star via an Oscar nominated performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story.

Heather DeBose in ‘West Side Story’ (20th Century Studios)
Now the stunning triple threat will join Hechinger and Aaron-Taylor Johnson (in the title role) of a film that’s turning into a B-list Spider-Man villain bonanza. With an A-list talent like DuBose on board, however, the film just got a lot more intriguing.


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