Rhino (Sony's Spider-Man Universe)

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“	KRAVEN!	„
	~ The Rhino's first word with his villainous breakdown before challenging him.

“	Don't you want to know why they call me the Rhino?	„
	~ Aleksei Sytsevich revealing the origins of his nickname.

Aleksei Sytsevich, best known as the Rhino, is the main antagonist of the 2024 superhero film Kraven the Hunter, the sixth installment in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

He is a ruthless Russian mercenary with superhuman strength and attributes comparable to that of a rhinoceros. The Rhino came to know Kraven the Hunter in the past through his father Nikolai Kravinoff, leading him to face Kraven when he starts hunting any enemies to the animal kingdom years after their first encounter.

He was portrayed by Alessandro Nivola, who also played Pollux Troy in Face/Off and Dickie Moltisanti in The Many Saints of Newark.

Appearance[]

Aleksei Sytsevich has an athletic build and is usually seen wearing a white shirt and black pants.

In mutant Rhino form he possesses a tall muscular, stocky, cylindrical gray covered body with rare belly button and a large head with two horns in the middle of his face.

Personality[]

To be added

History[]

Morbius[]

The Rhino doesn't physically appear in the film, but is mentioned through newspapers of The Daily Bugle spotted as Michael Morbius explores his powers while hunted down by Milo Morbius. These state that, by 2019, the Rhino has broken out from prision, fooling the media.

Kraven the Hunter[]

Aleksei has his men capture drug lord Nikolai Kravinoff's son Dmitri for ransom. When Nikolai refuses to pay for Dmitri's release, Aleksei offers him to join forces to stop Nikolai's opperations, but he refuses to betray his father. He later finds out about Dmitri's brother Sergei, a famous assassin working under the alias "Kraven", and sends a squad of his mercenaries to kill him before he comes rescue Dmitri. The squad fails the attempt, so Aleksei hires a hitman known as the Foreigner to take down Kraven together.

Following Kraven and his partner Calypso to the former's sanctuary in Russia, they use Dmitri to lure Kraven into an ambush and nearly kill him, but Calypso manages to revive him and kill the Foreigner with a crossbow. Aleksei then transforms into the Rhino and fights Kraven, but is stabbed by Kraven and ran over by a buffalo stampede he summoned. Before succumbing to his wounds, Aleksei gives out a hint into revealing who sent the video.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

Rhinoceros Physiology: Aleksei has powers that transformer him into giant mutated Rhino.
- Superhuman Strength: Rhino possesses extreme superhuman strength as he is able to lift 100 tons and even stop a truck with his horns.
- Superhuman Speed: Despite his large size, Rhino is able to move at fast speed. He could reach a speed of 30 mph while d increased to the point where he can now run at 80 mph even charging catching up with buffalo.
- Superhuman Durability: Rhino's mutated body makes him invincible and nearly unstoppable. He is highly resistant to physical injury and sustains minimal damage by multiple bullets thanks to his rhino skin. Even a knife can't harm Aleksei without sustaining any injury.

Abilities[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

The Rhino's casting was secret back when Alessandro Nivola was cast, as he didn't say anything about which character he would play in Kraven the Hunter, though he did mention that he would play a character that would transform towards the film's ending to the point of obtaining Olympic strength, hinting at his character's role. It wasn't until some of the film's footage was revealed in the CinemaCon 2023 that Nivola was confirmed to have been cast as the Rhino, thanks to industry insider Jeff Sneider recognizing his voice.
Alessandro Nivola is the second actor to portray Aleksei Sytsevich in a live-action Spider-Man movie. Paul Giamatti previously played another version of the character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
- Like his variant his true form also had a minor role.
Despite having his nickname mentioned, Aleksei did not fully transform into the Rhino until the final battle. However, he did demonstrate his brief transformation twice to show his invulnerability towards sharp objects and weapons.
He mentions that the serum that turns him into the Rhino comes from none other than Miles Warren, aka The Jackal, from the infamous Clone Saga.
The Rhino is the second major rogue to Spider-Man to be the main antagonist while going against the anti-villain protagonist since Carnage from Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Although, while Carnage is an antagonist to Venom too, Rhino is most commonly neutral or a fellow member of the Sinister Six with Kraven.
Contrary to most versions of Rhino, who is idiotic and loud, this version is highly cunning and soft-spoken. Also, Rhino - whether wearing a suit or transforming into an animal hybrid - is typically as large as a truck, whereas this version is only a slightly above average sized man.

External Links[]

Rhino on the Marvel Database Wiki
Rhino on the Sony's Spider-Man Universe Wiki

Navigation[]

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