As Peter prepares to be interviewed to work at a real laboratory, he discovers his interviewer Dr. Mariah Crawford, is being attacked and hunted by her former lover, Sergei Kravinoff, who has now become an insane jungle man called Kraven the Hunter.
Tropes
- Adaptational Heroism:
- Kraven is much nicer and more heroic than his comic book counterpart, who is a villain through-and-through. Here, he's only villainous in this episode and that's only due to his jealousy and a misunderstanding; every appearance afterward has him acting as an ally to Spider-Man.
- Dr. Crawford as well. Calypso, Kraven's lover in the comics, was a sadist who enjoyed fueling Kraven's murderous tendencies and hatred for Spider-Man. In this series, Mariah is a kind scientist who only sought to save Sergei from death and his becoming Kraven the Hunter was an accident. After Spider-Man helps her, she becomes a friend and ally to him.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Sergei Kravinoff. While he used to be a professional big game hunter in Africa but easily gave that up to be a safari guide instead after hunting was outlawed in that country, rather than illegally hunting endangered animals like most Egomaniac Hunters would.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, Calypso had no connections to Kraven's creation. In the series, Dr. Mariah Crawford, Calypso's counterpart, created Kraven by giving Dr. James Reeve's "wonder drug" to her mortally wounded lover, Sergei Kravinoff.
- All Part of the Show: At the fashion show, Kraven arrives, having tracked Spider-Man by scent, and runs up on stage and grabs the microphone demanding that Spider-Man shows himself, everyone believes that it's just part of the fashion show.
- Bittersweet Ending: Spider-Man is able to help Dr. Crawford cure Kravinoff and save Robbie, but is unsure if Mary-Jane or Felicia will forgive Peter after leaving the fashion show.
- Bloodless Carnage: Kravinoff is heavily wounded twice, yet he has no visible injuries either time, even with his outfit exposing a significant portion of his chest the second time.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In this episode Robbie is shown to be living alone in a place in the city. But in later episodes is home is completely different from the on this episode and with his wife, Martha, and son, Randy.
- Emergency Transformation: Dr. Crawford gave Kravinoff the wonder-drug Dr. Reeves warned her not to use that turned him into Kraven the Hunter after he was mortally wounded protecting her from a pack of hyenas.
- Heinous Hyena: The pack of hyenas that attacked Dr. Crawford when she tried to follow Dr. Reeves. While Kravinoff managed to defeat by fighting off the hyenas, they still managed to wound, forcing Dr. Crawford to give him the wonder-drug that turned in to Kraven.
- Mistaken for Cheating: When Kraven arrives Robbie's home and finds him, he wrongfully believes that he is Dr. Crawford's new lover.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Dr. Crawford choosing to follow Dr. Reeves indirectly lead to the hyenas attacking her and forcing Kravinoff to rescue her, causing his transformation to Kraven.
- Spider-Man accidentally put Robbie in danger by leaving Dr. Crawford to hide in his apartment while he is on vacation. After Robbie returns Kraven, who followed Spider-Man by scent, believes he is Mariah's new lover and takes him hostage.
- Shout-Out:
- To the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise when Spider-Man briefly mentions Freddy Cruger.
- Spider-Man calls Kraven "Jungle Jim"
- Small Role, Big Impact: Dr. James Reeves, only appears in the flashback of this episode when Dr. Crawford explains to Spider-Man how she meet Sergei before he became Kraven the Hunter, but he plays a very important role in this episode as the creator of the serum that Dr. Crawford used to heal Sergei after a hyena attack, turning him into Kraven the Hunter in the process.
- Tragic Monster: Kraven, due to the Adaptational Heroism mentioned above, is depicted as a noble man who is being driven mad by the dangerous side-effects of a miracle cure that functions like Super Serum.
