Bill Skarsgård’s look in the upcoming remake of The Crow has provoked a divisive response, to say the least, but a departure from Brandon Lee’s look in the 1994 original was a necessity for the remake. Based upon James O’Barr’s acclaimed 1989 graphic novel, both versions of The Crow focus upon deceased rock musician Eric Draven, who is resurrected one year after his and his fiancé’s murders to avenge their killing.
With Eric’s revenge spree taking place on the night before Halloween, known as Devil’s Night, he applies make-up to his face for a goth-inspired look as he is led on his mission by a supernatural crow. While the essence of O’Barr’s story is set to carry over into Rupert Sanders’ new film, one element that has undergone a major makeover is Eric Draven’s Crow makeup.
In Alex Proyas’ The Crow, Brandon Lee’s white and black make-up and neck-length hair are a very close recreation of Eric Draven’s look in James O’Barr’s graphic novel. By contrast, Bill Skarsgård’s version of Eric Draven has a much shorter haircut while the movie keeps his make-up relatively minimalistic with dark circles around his eyes and a black smile drawn onto his cheeks.
With Skarsgård’s Eric also sporting numerous tattoos on his torso, his look for The Crow has been likened less to Brandon Lee’s and more to Jared Leto’s rendition of The Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad. However, whatever misgivings there might be in altering Eric Draven’s iconic make-up design for the new version of The Crow, doing so was always a necessity for the film to establish its own identity.
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At the time of The Crow’s production, O’Barr’s graphic novel was a niche-of-niche property even among die-hard comic book fans, while Brandon Lee was still on the verge of breaking out in the film industry. The very nature of The Crow as a movie changed after Brandon Lee’s tragic death at just 28 years old due to a gunfire mishap on set.
Upon the movie’s release in May of 1994, The Crow became a posthumous farewell to a rising star for audiences around the world, but the movie’s story of a man returning from death added another layer to that with Lee’s figurative return through The Crow’s release. For all of these reasons, The Crow movie – and arguably The Crow IP as a whole – has taken on an almost spiritual significance for millions in the three decades since the movie’s release.
Because of the circumstances that have made The Crow an enduring cult classic, any attempt to adapt O’Barr’s comic book for the big-screen would inevitably find itself in the shadow of the original (as the middling success of the subsequent Crow sequels demonstrate.)
The only chance a modern remake of The Crow could realistically have comparable success to its 1994 predecessor would be to differentiate itself from the Brandon Lee-led film as much as possible beyond their shared core story. This is where Eric Draven’s new look in Rupert Sanders’ The Crow comes into play not as a misguided re-imagining, but a wholly necessary first step to distinguish Skarsgård’s Eric Draven from Lee’s.
To be sure, even with a new make-up design and tattoos a-plenty for Skarsgård’s Eric, the remake of The Crow is still bound to face comparisons with the 1994 film, and there was never any way to alleviate that challenge completely. Alex Proyas’ The Crow was and is lightning in a bottle for its moving story of revenge from beyond the grave, the power of love to survive even the most terrible of losses, and a heavy metal soundtrack and music video-like visual template that has never been replicated.
The tragic loss of Brandon Lee as he was on the verge of stardom has only made the powerful story and message of The Crow that much deeper and more cherished since its release. The remake of The Crow can only succeed by going its own way, and the film giving Bill Skarsgård’s Eric Draven his own unique look should be taken as a sign that it is doing just that.
What is your take on the controversy surrounding Bill Skarsgård’s The Crow? How are you celebrating The Crow‘s 30th anniversary?
The Crow |
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A modern re-imagining of the beloved character, The Crow, based on the original graphic novel by James O'Barr. |
| Studio: Davis Films, Hassell Free Productions, Electric Shadow Company, Pressman Film |
| Running Time: N/A |
| Release Date: June 7, 2024 |
| Cast: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Jordan Bolger, Isabella Wei, Sami Bouajila, David Bowles, Dukagjin Podrimaj |
| Director: Rupert Sanders |
| Writers: James O'Barr, Zack Baylin, William Josef Schneider |
| Genre: Action, Crime, Fantasy |
| Box Office: N/A |
