Sergei Kravinoff or Otto Octavious? Both have bested Spider-Man and then stepped into his costume in an attempt to prove they're better than the hero is. Both bring completely different advantages to the table, but who would be left standing if they were forced to battle each other? Comic Viners have been speculating about this fight since Monday and they've picked a victor: Kraven the Hunter!
This was by no means a stomp, though. Kravinoff earned 52% and Octavius wasn't far behind. Doc Ock received 42% and 6% of voters thought this fight was too close to call.
Even though Doctor Octopus' titanium arms have given Spider-Man plenty of trouble over the years, Kraven earned support for a few reasons. First and foremost, it's worth noting that, while he may not be on par with Spider-Man in the physical department, he's incredibly durable and swift enough to stay on top of the wall-crawler, Venom, and Scarlet Spider. When it comes to knocking him out, it won't be an easy chore at all. Spider-Man once said he had to really let lose to take Sergei down and the villain even has a healing factor now. Secondly, Kraven has a nice selection of gear on him. Not only does he have standard bladed weapons that can be used in close combat or thrown, he also has items such as nets, bolas, and an assortment of poisons. Otto has superb reflexes with those arms, but if he gets scratched by even one poison dart or poison-laced tusk, that's a big game changer.
Last but not least, Kraven's gifted when it comes to applying tactics on the fly. He may not have any prep time, but with his knowledge of Otto combined with the starting distance and location, it is possible he'd use the environment to his advantage and try to keep his distance. Or, he'd at least use it in an attempt to close the gap. As stealthy as he may be, sneaking up on Otto is difficult -- just ask the Punisher -- but it's worth noting.
Even if Kraven does manage to defeat Doc Ock, it's by no means going to be an easy victory for the legendary hunter. Octavius may not look like much and one good connect could wrap things up, but those arms have allowed him to block multiple projectiles and give Spidey all kinds of grief. This shouldn't be a cakewalk for either combatant.
Viner Post for Kraven is by NimaMindTricks
"Go see what Kraven did to Kaine in their last encounter and you'll know who would win this. To quote Kaine "I'm faster than Spider-Man. Stronger too. And Kraven is still tearing me apart."
Keep in mind that Kraven in that fight (Scarlet Spider-Man 23) was distracted and obsessed with the idea of Kaine killing him so he can return to his "honorable" death via his suicide after hunting down Spider-Man in Last Hunt. I think after his ressurection (he yanked Peter's arm out of its socket without even trying) and his fight with Kaine that I just mentioned, I think it is safe to say Kraven's strength level has gone up since his 2 tonner days (maybe 5 - 7 tonner now?)
Despite this fight being a random encounter, Kraven and Otto have known each other for awhile from their tenure in the Sinister Six together. Kraven, we can presume based off his character, has likely studied and observed Otto's fighting strategy. In other words, Kraven knows what kind of "beast" he's tangling with in this encounter. He knows he has to keep his distance from the tentacles and try to use all the coverage available to make his tactical strike.
As far as "standard gear" goes, it would not be too foreign too assume Kraven has a blow dart or two on him, daggers (possibly poisoned), and some other primitive (but deadly) weapon on him. Kraven has top notch accuracy and agility, he's the perfect man to find the "opening" he needs to land the necessary strike to put Otto down. I can think of two instances (one against Kaine when he neck slashed him in "Grim Hunt") where Kraven was able to speed blitz (for lack of a better term) a Spidey for an attack.
In conclusion, due to fighting experience, prowess, cunning, agility, ruthlessness, tactical ability, and his familiarity with Otto, I give this fight to Kraven."
Viner Post for Dock Ock is by jashro44
"I'm going to give this to doctor octopus.
Strength: I think this is pretty straight forward. Each one of Otto's arms can lift 3 tons whereas Kraven as a whole is a 2 tonner according to hand books. Likewise if you look at feats Otto has been at times able to restrain Peter whereas the same can't be said for Kraven. Not really much to say here besides Otto has the clear advantage.
Speed: This is something trickier to say. Kraven has been able to fight agent venom at speeds faster than the eye can track, and he was giving Kaine problems with his speed. However as I've shown in my scans Otto has sufficient enough reflexes to block and deflect bullets along with other range attacks (like electros lightning, demo goblins hell fire blasts, hawkeyes arrows, etc). Also I imagine that the tentacles would give Kaine problems if they fought considering its given peter some problems in the past. I'm going to go ahead and give the advantage here to dock ock simply because I can't think of too many avoidance feats for Kraven. He dodged storms lightning, bullets from deadpool, and bullets in kravens last hunt however he isn't spider-man like agile/acrobatic so I think dock ocks tentacles will catch him eventually.
Durability: Ottos arms here are titanium and I don't think Kraven is strong enough to break titanium so Ottos arms should be fine. With that said Otto is still human so if Kraven does bypass the arms than Otto is basically finished. He has taken punches from spider-man (who's holding back obviously) and all though Kraven may not be as strong as Peter he can still probably kill an average human in one hit. Likewise Kraven uses weapons like knives, spears, etc. Meanwhile kraven has always been really durable with taking punches from spider-man as well (Peter at one point stated he hit kraven with the same punch he used to stagger the hulk in order to knock him out IIRC), and in addition to this kraven now has a healing factor. He's healed stabs to the heart from venom for example so its pretty good. Kraven has the edge here due to being super human.
Weapons: Kraven does have more weapons here and all though he does have range weapons I think Otto's arms are the better equipment. They've blocked attacks from someone who is probably a better marksman (hawkeye) and they have blocked faster projectiles as well. He's also caught a knife from punisher before so he can catch Kravens knives if Kraven decides to throw them. So I think if kraven tosses knives this will actually backfire on him considering it would give Otto a bladed weapon making it easier to incapacitate Kraven with. All though Kravens healing factor can allow him to tank knife slashes it probably has its limit. kraven does also have poison darts as well but Otto can block those as well I would say. Now if Kraven decides to use his knife in melee or his spear rather than throw them than he is still at a disadvantage. Ottos arms can't be blocked with a spear or a knife where as kravens knives and spears can be blocked by Otto's arms. Additionally Otto has more reach so a melee encounter would definitely go to dock ock without a doubt.
Intelligence: Something someone brought up earlier that I hadn't thought of originally was that they have worked together before and I think this is a really good point. Kraven is the type of guy that usually studies his prey before hunting them. He's studied spider-man and his moves (which does help him out in a fight), and he also watched Kaine for a while before engaging him. Whereas I would be pretty surprised if Otto didn't study the members of the sinister six and think of ways to beat them all encase one of them (or all) betrayed him. I think this information is more helpful to Dock Ock. Yea maybe Kraven could pick up on a striking pattern of Dock Ocks arms which may help to evade for a bit but I'm not sure if a pattern like that exists. I think this info is more helpful to Dock ock because he probably knows the areas where Kraven will be targeting with his range attacks and will probably be more focused on guarding those areas. Kraven likes to shoot darts in peoples necks (he's done it to black panther in hell's kitchen, and spider-man in kravens last hunt, etc) so Otto will probably be more protective of his neck. Kraven could also fall back on stealth which would be a good tactic but Otto has detected punisher while on the phone so I don't think that would get kraven a majority either.
Overall: I think Dock Ock takes this fight. Kravens best bet would be to keep his distance and shoot poison darts at dock ock or use some other range attack and stay out of Ottos reach. However I think Otto's arms are faster than Kraven (I know he can sprint 60MPH but still) and considering Otto's track record of deflecting projectiles I think he can swat most of Kravens out of the air. Admittedly I am not sure how long Otto can keep it up as he did state in secret wars that a range enemy put him at a disadvantage, but I think based on feats he can do it long enough to get in close. And once things get into melee kraven is at a huge disadvantage. Ottos arms are more powerful and they can't be blocked, there faster than Kraven, and they have more reach than any of kravens melee weapons I can think of. Knocking Kraven out may prove difficult but honestly restraining enemies is a common tactic of Doctor Octopus anyways, so Kravens durability isn't that big of an advantage in my eyes. I can see some ways for kraven to win but I think Otto takes the majority. He holds a lot of advantages and he has an answer for Kravens main advantages (range and durability). I can see how Kraven can win but I don't see that happening for a majority."
Do you agree that Kraven should eventually best Doc Ock or do you think Otto's arms weren't given enough credit by the voters? Feel free to share your thoughts and continue the debate below. Also, don't forget to check the homepage on Monday for a new Batman Battle of the Month! Seeing as it's still Spider-Man's month, you can bet we'll find a way to work Peter Parker into the fight! In the meantime, you're welcome to make suggestions right here in the comments or via Twitter.
14 Comments