The Crow Reboot: First Photos Reveal a Drastic Updated Look for ’90s Icon

If you were a teenager in the 1990s (like me!), few things mattered to you like The Crow. The 1994 film captured goth/grunge cool. From its origins as an indie comic book to its legendary soundtrack to its tragic production, The Crow captured the mood of a generation.

Which is to say that the first look at Bill Skarsgård in the upcoming remake of The Crow might be a bit of a shock. And if you were a teenager in the ’90s, your heart isn’t what it used to be, so you might want to sit down. Have a look at the first image of Skarsgård as the titular anti-hero…

Directed by Rupert Sanders, The Crow stars Skarsgård as Eric Draven, a musician who gets possessed by a spirit of vengeance after criminals brutally beat him and kill his fiancée Shelly (FKA Twigs). The spirit takes the form of a crow, which inspires Draven’s persona.

The new version of the Crow certainly has aspects of the original character, as designed by writer/artist James O’Barr and faithfully recreated for Brandon Lee in the beloved 1994 movie. We see dark circles around his eyes and black paint across lips, creating the suggestion of a grin. And he does appear to be putting on a leather duster, to match his leather pants.

But then, there are the tattoos. There’s a radiating third eye on his chest, broken chains across his abdomen, a millipede emerging from his crotch. Are they cheesy? Sure. But they also seem believable for a rock musician in the 2020s. In other pictures, featuring Eric and Shelley before their downfall (like the one at the top of this article), we see his pseudo-mullet haircut and the word “Lullaby” tattooed across his forehead.

Look, there’s good reason to be skeptical of The Crow 2024. Sanders previously directed the brain-dead stinkers Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell, movies that demonstrated the most generic action brain and no understanding of what made the source material interesting. Casting Danny Huston to play yet another bad guy builds no confidence, especially in contrast to colorful actors like Joe Polito and Michael Wincott in the 1994 movie.

And yes, it must be said, Nü-Eric looks a lot like Ninja from Die Antwoord and thus invokes Chappie vibes. Nobody wants Chappie vibes.

But there is a primordial power to the story of The Crow. It comes from O’Barr’s anger at the meaningless death of his own fiancée. He poured his anger and longing into every page of his original comic. That power carried the 1994 movie’s clunkier parts, and (to a lesser extent) the three sequels and the TV series.

All of that said, the few images we have so far aren’t enough to decide if The Crow will be bad or good, especially for us ’90s teens who have strong feelings about the original movie. Does Nü-Eric look dumb with his excessive tattoos? Of course! But we think that about most kids these days. After all, we’re in our 40s now and we don’t get kids these days.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to For Love Not Lisa before taking my afternoon nap.

The Crow hits theaters on June 7.