Sometimes, a movie doesn’t need a sequel. It’s best left as one and done. One example of this isThe Crow, the 1994 adaptation of James O’Barr’s gothic revenge comic. Originally planned to be a direct-to-video movie, it managed to get a theatrical release. It was set to be the breakout role for lead star Brandon Lee, but due to a mishandled prop gun, it would end up being his last.
Still, it caught on as a 90s cult classic, receiving novels, a TV series, and a variety of sequels and reboots. None of them recaptured the original’s appeal, but they did at least provide some interesting variants on The Crow himself. Some kept it simple, while others went even more supernatural. So, let’s compare them against each other and see just who comes out on top.
5Ashe Corven
The Crow: City Of Angels
The bottom ringer goes to the second corvid-related avenger,Ashe Corven, inThe Crow: City of Angels. He has a neat angle in trying to even the score with the thugs who killed him and his son, Danny. However, he’s prone to panic attacks and freak-outs, and he has to be told how the crow works by Sarah, the young girl from the first movie. She’s all grown up now and played by futureStar Trek: Discovery actorMia Kirshner.
Once he knows the gist of things, he gets down to some impressive kills, often heavy on the bird imagery (Kali, played byoriginal Yellow Power RangerThuy Trang, leaves a crow-shaped bloodstain in her fatal fall). Still, the villain, Judah, gets one-up on him by taking his immortality, almost hanging him. In trying to replicate the first Crow’s paradoxical mix of vulnerability and invulnerability, they ended up making Corven more of a sad sack.
4Jimmy Cuervo
The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Crow: Wicked Prayeris probably most remembered today for featuring David Boreanaz, who people thought would be stepping into the Crow’s shoes after having experience playingparanormal action heroes on TV. But instead, he plays the satanic villain, Luc. The title role was given to Edward Furlong, ofTerminator 2andAmerican History Xfame, asJimmy Cuervo. He has to avenge his and his girlfriend’s deaths by tracking down Luc and finishing him off.
Cuervo’s got more action chops than Ashe, as he gets right to work killing off Luc’s henchmen and doing his best to stop his Satanic ritual. Still, he doesn’t exactly look like a figure of retribution. He looks more like a goth kid who made the most out of a hefty voucher for Spencer’s Gifts. The line between being cool and looking like a poser can be thin, and sadly, Cuervo fell on the wrong side.
3Eric Draven
The Crow (2024)
Did anyone know there was a reboot ofThe Crowout in cinemas? Judging by its reception, apparently not. Its lacking reception rivals that ofMorbius, which at leastgot briefly popular from its memes. However, the new movie more resemblesSpawn, withthe new Eric Dravenbeing a rehab patient trying to free his late girlfriend’s soul from Hell. It plays up the more supernatural elements, with its immortal, hell-bound villain, and Draven making deals with the devil to get more shots at him.
The movie itself isn’t so hot after 16 years in development, but Bill Skarsgård is a step-up in the acting stakes. His Draven brings hell on earth in pursuit of Roeg, though he doesn’t have much chemistry with FKA Twigs’ Shelly. No wonder his Draven starts doubting his feelings for her, which oddly causes him to lose his powers. It’s a touch more convoluted than the source material using a crow as the source of Draven’s abilities.
2Alex Corvis
The Crow: Salvation
The Crow: Salvationtwists things around by being part revenge action, part crime thriller.Alex Corvisis sentenced to death by electric chair for murdering his girlfriend, Lauren. Except he didn’t do it. He was framed to cover for a bunch of corrupt cops who, after being seen taking part in a drug smuggling ring, decided to silence her for good.
Revived to get retribution, Corvis goes between seeking evidence to prove his innocence to Lauren’s sister, Erin, and doing the usual Crow business of killing people horribly. He’s straight and to the point about it, too. No trips to Hell or freak-outs involved. The only downside is his looks. It’s meant to be based on his electrocution wounds, but it ultimately looks more like he could only afford eye-shadow and just went all-out with it. Which might be why its sort-of sequel went all-out withWicked Prayer’s Cuervo.
1Eric Draven
The Crow (1994)
Perhaps to nobody’s shock, the best incarnation of the Crow isthe original Eric Draven. Brandon Lee’s charisma made the role, combining vulnerability, brooding, vengeful rage, and snappy one-liners intoa classic character. The writing also helps, as the movie treats him like a mystery, as Sarah and police sergeant Albrecht attempt to figure out who he is, what his motive is, and how someone can come back from the dead.
If the actor’s fatal accident hadn’t happened, Lee would’ve been due to appear in at least two moreCrowmovies. They might’ve worked out better than the sequels people got. Even if they didn’t, Lee would’ve kept it entertaining with his performance. Instead, he proved himself irreplaceable, as subsequent attempts to capture his Crow have proved fruitless.
