Prelude
Kraven the Hunter reminisces about how Sasha, Vladimir, and Alyosha were killed by him and Ana for not living up to his legacy. After cutting a deal with the High Evolutionary who only met with him after some of his New Men were hunted, Kraven the Hunter has 87 clones of him created. Ana is disgusted by this and leaves her father. The clones are trained as the Sons of Kraven and sent out to prove themselves by being hunted by each other. The clone who survived was labeled as the Last Son of Kraven. With help from Taskmaster, Black Ant, and Arcade and his company Arcade Industries, Kraven the Hunter starts hunting various animal-themed characters, with Aracde grouping King Cobra, Rhino, Scorpion, Stegron, Tarantula, and Vulture as the Savage Six. [1] While making the final preparations for the "Great Hunt", Kraven reflects on his immortality as it is revealed that the Kraven who was stabbed by Scarlet Spider was actually a clone. [2]
Curt Connors (in his Lizard form due to the Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy ) wakes up to find his wife Martha screaming that his son Billy not home. Peter Parker is sick due to his encounters with Taskmaster and Black Ant when they tried to capture Rhino. Mary Jane offers to give Peter some food to make him feel better, but Peter receives six calls from Curt Connors about Billy. Meanwhile, Billy is trying to get into a club to see a girl named Becca, but he and Black Cat are captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant. Black Cat manages to message Spider-Man, telling him her location. [1]
Main plot
Spider-Man arrives at the place where Black Cat is supposedly held and falls into a trap that exposes him to a disorienting gas. Spider-Man is attacked by the Last Son of Kraven and manages to get the upper hand, but hallucinates Mary Jane dying, which causes the Last Son of Kraven to beat him senselessly. Spider-Man wakes up in Central Park, where he is attacked by Scorpion. The fight is interrupted when they are attacked by robots piloted by hunters. [2]
Spider-Man attempts to help the villains escape from the Hunter-Bots, but there is almost no escape as there is a force field around Central Park. Meanwhile, Taskmaster betrays Black Ant, stating that Black Ant is an animal-themed villain like the others he had captured, and tasers Black Ant to get more money. While running away, Vulture pushes Gibbon toward the hunters to buy time for himself, causing Gibbon to be mortally wounded. [3] Spider-Man comes across Gibbon's body and stays with him as he dies. [4]
Vulture falsely claims that Gibbon sacrificed himself to give Vulture time to break the force field, which Spider-Man quickly disproves. Rhino is still angry that Spider-Man allowed Taskmaster and Black Ant to capture him and is about to kill him when Vulture tells Rhino to calm down. Meanwhile, Taskmaster meets Arcade and wants Arcade to pay him twice the money because Taskmaster caught Lizard. [5]
It is revealed that in order to save his son and his wife from disintegrating (due to the events of "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" where Jackal activated the kill code), Curt injected them with the Lizard formula, turning them into humanoid lizards. Curt also put an inhibitor chip in his spine, which was intended to prevent him from transforming. Lizard offers Taskmaster the antidote if he can take Lizard to Central Park. While traveling there, Lizard and Taskmaster defeat Vermin, freeing innocent bystanders. Taskmaster helps put a taser chip in Lizard's body, and takes him to Arcade. [6]
A Hunter-Bot sees Billy and tries to shoot him, but backs down, not wanting to hurt a child. Lizard finds the cage that Billy was in, but Last Son of Kraven finds Lizard and beats him up. It is revealed that the Hunter-Bots are linked to their pilots, which will kill them if the Hunter-Bots are destroyed. Kraven had planned this effect from the beginning to punish the hunters for killing animals for sport. Black Ant tells Spider-Man that Kraven is located in a castle, but Arcade tells Spider-Man that Kraven is busy and releases clones of Vermin. [7] In a flashback, it is revealed that Vermin was captured by Arcade, who injected him with a serum that gave him the ability to clone himself. [8]
Kraven reveals that if Spider-Man kills him, then the force field and the Hunter-Bots will be deactivated and Black Cat and Billy will be saved. Lizard saves Billy in the nick of time and briefly reconciles with Billy before wandering off, allowing Last Son of Kraven to escape. Spider-Man tells Kraven that he will never be like Kraven because Kraven will do anything to survive including killing his own kin like he did with Sasha, Vladimir, and Alyosha. However, Spider-Man counters that everyone needs some other person to support and care for another in order to survive. Kraven laughs and tells Arcade to deactivate the force field and the Hunter-Bots, allowing the survivors to escape. Kraven tells Spider-Man to save Black Cat and when Spider-Man hesitates, Kraven promises to never hunt again. Kraven goes to his casket where he retrieves the black Spider-Man suit and dons it once more. Last Son of Kraven sees "Spider-Man" and mistakenly kills Kraven, breaking his curse. It was said that Kraven must die by the spider and since Kraven wore the Spider-Man suit, this causes Kraven's "son" to kill him. [9]
Aftermath
After attending his funeral of his "father," Last Son of Kraven goes to the Kravinoff estate, rips off his clothes, and trashed it out of frustration. Swinging through Central Park, Spider-Man sees that the Great Hunt is over. Captain Marvel shows up to confront Arcade while the controllers of the Hunter-Bots are confronted by Captain America. Vulture tells the other members of the Savage Six that he intends to have them stick together as a group. Meanwhile, Black Ant is found hiding in the bushes by Yellowjacket, but escapes with Taskmaster. Peter Parker arrives home to find Mary Jane with a bleeding arm. They both embrace each other as a centipede watches them.
The Last Son of Kraven finds a letter written to him by his "father" that tells him to take on his father's legacy. Last Son of Kraven takes on the aliases of Sergei Kravinoff and Kraven the Hunter; he cuts his hair, wipes off his tiger stripes, and dons a copy of Kraven the Hunter's outfit. At Kraven's funeral, Chameleon is revealed to be one of the attendees as he is pleased that Kraven the Hunter spared him from the Great Hunt. As he walks away, Chameleon tells Kraven to sleep well and states "You needn't worry. The world is no longer your burden. Besides, there won't be much of it left soon...Not by the time I've finished." [10]
