“Kraven the Hunter” really doesn’t work. It is, however, more diverting in the ways it doesn’t work than “Madame Web” and the very, very not-good “Morbius.”

Like those two, this one’s a Sony Marvel origin story, separate from the Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe that Remade and Partially Wrecked the Film Industry. In “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Aaron Taylor-Johnson took the secondary role of Maximoff. Here, he takes the leading role but it feels more like a Minimoff, uneasily supported by a movie that’s essentially a series of guesses as to what to do with the material.

Directed by J.C. Chandor, “Kraven the Hunter” operates in a grubbier, R-rated realm than the PG-13 Marvels before it (scarcely less violent, but slightly less digital-blood soaked). “Deadpool & Wolverine,” also rated R, had the benefit of its odd-couple collision of known quantities. “Kraven the Hunter” has only Kraven. Any of Sony’s recent animated “Spider-Verse” dazzlers could take this guy in one round.

The story concerns the sons of a ruthless Russian mobster played by Russell Crowe, working in a low-key murmur bordering on fourth-Zoom-meeting-of-the-day somnambulism. His sons are the sensitive, bullied, terminally underestimated cocktail lounge singer Dmitri — in “Godfather” terms, the Fredo of this saga — played by Fred Hechinger; and the titular hunter, the big, strong, strapping Sergei, played by Taylor-Johnson’s abs.

Superpowers have to come from somewhere, so during a safari in Ghana with Dad and his brother, Sergei gets mauled by a computer-generated lion. At death’s door, full of gaping wounds, young Sergei is saved when a big plop of lion’s blood enters the boy’s bloodstream. This, combined with the mystical cure-all potion administered by Calypso, the local priestess, keeps Sergei alive and kicking.

And leaping. And falling from great heights and landing, feline-like, no problem. Kraven brings catlike tread and a supernaturally terrific sense of smell, vision and hearing to his chosen role as humankind’s premier hunter. Bred by his fearsome father to be an apex predator, Sergei/Kraven spends much of his movie taking out the criminal trash hither and yon, vigilante style. In the duller later stretches, his mission is personal, to recover his kidnapped brother and skull-ax a horde of generic Slavs.

A lot of it takes place in London, which brings us to Ariana DeBose as the now-grown Calypso, the best-dressed lawyer in the history of lawyers. It’s fair to say that from script to direction to performance, nobody connected with “Kraven the Hunter” quite knew what to do with this character. DeBose has a hard time finding her footing in this bleh material; director Chandor may have been too busy with the script’s overcrowded villain roster to pay attention.

That roster includes Alessandro Nivola as the Rhino and Christopher Abbott as a vaguely defined menace known as the Foreigner, who clouds men’s minds like the Shadow but for evil, not for good. In previous movies, director Chandor has succeeded in tight quarters and clammy endgame setups, with “All is Lost” (Robert Redford alone at sea, and not talking much) and “Margin Call,” a very talky but effective boardroom scenario about how to make money when everyone else is losing it.

With its lurches in continuity and some editing hiccups, “Kraven the Hunter” plays as if it were roughed up in postproduction, even if the intention was to smooth things out. Here’s the weird thing: Even the scenes with little or no visual effects that depend on actors acting tend to die little deaths on their own. They lack urgency, clear stakes, a sense of unpredictability. Is that something Chandor could’ve instilled? Or is a project like “Kraven the Hunter” simply beyond figuring out how to make the blah-blah interesting, with a little more at stake?

The movie’s general idea of Kraven is a guy who can’t even keep track of his own superpowers. (Wait, he can run sideways on walls? He’s a serial killer of scum? He’s like Sheena, or Dr. Dolittle, with the animal telepathy?) Taylor-Johnson is a solid actor, but on the page and in performance, Kraven’s barely there and too cool to care about what’s happening. Which makes it hard for moviegoers to care.

DeBose, so good in “West Side Story” and on “Schmigadoon,” provides some solace, even if her Calypso comes off as an off-kilter attempt to do something. You detect the strain; it throws off her timing. In sidewalk or park bench scenes with Taylor-Johnson, DeBose is sending her co-star a not-so-secret message: Two can play the blasé game, pal. The game has its moments, but “Kraven the Hunter” goes in one eye and out the other, which has everything to do with genre fatigue — the studios’ more so than the audience’s.

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'KRAVEN THE HUNTER'

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence, and language)

Running time: 2:07

How to watch: Now in theaters

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