Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff: Mother Russia. By way of Mother Africa!
On the African savannah, Sergei Kravinoff confronts a rhinoceros mad with fever and subdues it with his bare hands. He is attacked by a male lion, revealed to be his pet, Gulyadkin, and meets with his lover, Calypso, who reveals their American benefactor has requested Sergei's services in hunting Spider-Man. Sergei, delighted at the thought of a worthy challenge, accepts. In Manhattan, Peter turns in his biology exam and attempts to talk to Gwen, but Liz interrupts and Gwen leaves without him. At the lab, Peter thanks Dr. Connors for the second chance and is introduced to Miles Warren's lab assistant, Debra Whitman. Martha inquires if they know where Eddie Brock disappeared to, and Gwen worries he may have been attacked by Venom. Miles Warren enters gushing over Dr. Connors' research on lizards and how it overlaps with his own research on mammals, and Curtis immediately declares that line of research to have been a dead end and an embarrassment.
That evening Spider-Man swings through the skyline, mulling over whether to date Liz or Gwen, unaware that Sergei is watching him. Sergei ambushes him and almost brings him down, but Spider-Man ultimately trounces him, stating that while Sergei may be the ultimate hunter, in super-powered NYC he's out of his league, leaving him hanging by his ankles from a streetlamp for the people to laugh at. Kraven frees himself and reunites with Calypso and Gulyadkin, using a sample of Spider-Man's costume torn off by one of his spears to track him across New York, ultimately leading him to ESU's science lab, where he confronts Miles Warren, who was clandestinely continuing his research on Dr. Connors' Lizard formula. Warren, wanting to test the results of his research, claims to have been the one to have given Spider-Man his powers, prompting Sergei to demand he do the same for him. Warren requests a significant sum for the procedure, and when Sergei threatens him he simply states that it would be in Sergei's best interest to pay him beforehand.
At Midtown High's football game, Peter tests out his new camera, and Liz flirts with him. The Mustangs win the game, but Flash breaks his leg throwing the winning pass. At ESU's lab, Sergei pays Warren half up-front, threatening to sick Gulyadkin on him again if he is dissatisfied with the results. Warren infuses Sergei with a mixture of lion, leopard, and cheetah DNA, transforming him into a werewolf-like felid beast. Calling himself "Kraven the Hunter", he attacks Spider-Man and proves to be a more even match, their fight trashing the Museum of Natural History. In the middle of their brawl, Peter receives a phone-call from Liz asking him to come to the hospital, but his fight with Kraven spills out into Central Park. Spider-Man slows Kraven down with webbing enough to deal what he thinks is a knockout blow, but he is distracted by drums, and when he turns back Kraven has disappeared. Peter arrives at the hospital and attempts to comfort Liz, but when Flash is wheeled out on a gurney she rushes over to see how he is doing. Kraven awakens being tended to by Calypso in their limousine, and their benefactor introduces himself as the Master Planner and asks how Kraven feels about hunting in packs.
This episode provides examples of:
- Badass Boast: "Take that, pussycat. A lesson in humility, courtesy of the original and still number one genetic misfit: me."
- Badass Normal: Kraven opens the episode taking down a berserk rhino with his bare hands, and almost defeats Spider-Man until the web slinger gets serious.
- Batman Gambit: Spider-Man can't beat Kraven head on. Once in Central Park, he forces Kraven to exert himself and get tangled in webbing. By the time Kraven thinks he's cornered his prey, Spider-Man clobbers him.
- Beast Man: Kraven infuses himself with lion, leopard, and cheetah DNA to become one.
- Consummate Liar: Miles Warren.
- Continuity Nod: Dr. Warren is very intrigued by Curt's research on applying lizard DNA to the human genome, which matches with his own similar research on mammalian DNA, though he mentions that Curt missed the crucial step of electrolyzing the formula. Curt quickly claims that this research was a dead end, but Miles is undeterred.
- Egomaniac Hunter: Kraven, naturally.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Kraven after being infused with big cat DNA.
- Evil Detecting Pet: Played with: Kravenoff's pet lion growls at Warren as he electrolyzes the formula, as if knowing that Warren is acting in his own self-interests. True, Kravenoff's no saint either, but the hunter at least has a personal moral code. Warren's just taking advantage of him and using him as a test subject.
- Evil Is Petty: Kravenoff only went after Spider-Man because he wanted a challenge. When he was bested (and humiliated) by Spidey, he paid Warren to give him the powers of jungle cats just so he can defeat Spider-Man. This is his motive for the rest of the series (and he might have gotten his magic-using wife in on it if the series had continued).
- Foreshadowing:
- Dr. Warren's experimentation with mammal DNA foreshadows him transforming into the Jackal.
- His confusion at Connors' refusal to pursue further experiments with reptile DNA will eventually lead to him learning that Connors was the Lizard and using that information to take control of the lab away from the Doctors Connors.
- When Liz is calling Peter asking him to come to the hospital and be with her, she hangs up the second he agrees so she can talk to Flash's parents. Then, when Peter gets there, he's sporting a black eye from his fight with Kraven. She says nothing about the black eye and leaves Peter's side the second the doctor says Flash will be okay. This hints that Peter and Liz aren't a good match, as she's still got feelings for Flash.
- Dr. Warren's experimentation with mammal DNA foreshadows him transforming into the Jackal.
- Friend to All Living Things: Sergei prevents the mad rhinoceros from being killed, insisting that it can be saved. Downplayed in that his comments afterward imply that this was about trying to give himself a challenge as much as anything.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Kraven acquires his powers via a modified Lizard serum. This is the seventh genetically engineered supervillain Spider-Man's faced (eighth if you consider Doctor Octopus a genetic experiment).
- Goofy Print Underwear: "Okay, the thermals with the hearts were half-price, and do not reflect my very high macho quotient."
- Got Me Doing It: After two third-person speaking villains in a row, Spider-Man finds himself starting to imitate them, much to his annoyance.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Gwen is clearly jealous when she sees Liz flirting with Peter.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Sergei first attacks Spider-Man thinking him to be a humanoid "beast", and later to regain the honour he lost by being defeated.
- Husky Russkie: Kraven, as proven by the quote above.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Sergei, albeit his pet cat is actually a lion. He nonetheless plays with him.
- Laugh of Love: Liz giggles after hugging Peter, right before the football match she's cheering for is about to start.
- Le Parkour: Sergei is pretty skilled at freerunning to be able to keep up with Spider-Man.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Spider-Man clearly isn't taking Kravenoff too seriously when they first meet, likely thinking him a super villain wanna-be. But when the hunter makes it clear that he aims to kill Spider-Man and sees him as prey rather than a person, then Spidey takes him more seriously and humiliates him in front of a crowd.
- Lightning Bruiser: Kraven outclasses Spider-Man in terms of strength and speed post-transformation.
- Love Triangle: Peter finds himself caught between Gwen Stacy and Liz Allan.
- Mad Scientist: Miles Warren, foreshadowing his deeds as the Jackal.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Master Planner is revealed to be the one who first sent Sergei photos of Spider-Man.
- Nerves of Steel:
- When confronted by an adult lion, Warren nonchalantly steps aside and comments it is a "magnificent specimen". When Kraven threatens to sick said lion on him the first time, he calmly uses a logical argument to defuse the situation, and the second time, removes the safety on a concealed pistol.
- Sergei's hunt takes him to various places Spider-Man has been, including The Daily Bugle. While it's only a voiceless cameo, Jonah is clearly yelling at him and his lion to get out.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: The reason Sergei agrees to go after Spider-Man. It's just too easy to face normal animals, whereas Spider-Man boasts unique speed, strength, and agility.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: While Sergei is a skilled hunter and has the strength to grapple with a rhino or a lion, he's only mildly better than most of the non-supervillains that Spidey has been able to outmuscle and outsmart thanks to his powers. It takes becoming a human-lion hybrid for him to be closer to a threat to Spider-Man.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: "Uh, sorry, who's the prey?"
- Painful Transformation: Sergei screams in agony as his body mutates.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Flash Thompson gets his first turn in the opening credits.
- Running on All Fours: Kraven does this post-transformation.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Upon tracking Spider-Man to the Connors lab and noting the genetically-engineered "super-spiders" in their terrarium, Sergei jumps to the not-unreasonable conclusion that Dr. Warren was responsible for Spider-Man's powers. Warren very easily goes along with this, even claiming that Spider-Man had paid him for the treatment when Sergei demands to be given powers as well.
- This Cannot Be!: What Sergei shouts when Spider-Man defeats him.
- Third-Person Person: Sergei.
- Unholy Matrimony: Sergei Kravenoff and Calypso. They are clearly in love, and she supports his passion for hunting, not to mention his new appearance as a lion mutant.
- Worthy Opponent: What Sergei seeks. He comes to view Spider-Man as one, prompting his efforts to attain powers on a similar level.
