How Bill Skarsgård's The Crow Will Be Different From Brandon Lee's Movie Teased By Villain Actor

Summary Danny Huston emphasizes that the new Crow movie will be unique, drawing inspiration from the original but creating something different.

Bill Skarsgård's adaptation promises a more visceral approach and a different visual style compared to Brandon Lee's cult classic.

The new Crow film aims to breathe new life into the franchise, steering away from imitation and offering a fresh take on the iconic story.

Though sharing the same unique source material, Danny Huston assures that Bill Skarsgård's The Crow will be very different from Brandon Lee's cult classic. Both movies are based on James O'Barr's graphic novel of the same name, telling the story of a man who was killed with his fiancée by a gang of criminals, only to be revived a year later by the titular bird and imbued with supernatural abilities to get revenge. Alongside Skarsgård and Huston, who stars as an unnamed villain in the movie, the cast for the new Crow adaptation will include FKA Twigs as the titular protagonist's fiancée, Shelly.

During a recent interview with Screen Rant about his role in The Dead Don't Hurt, Huston shared a little insight for the upcoming Crow movie. When asked about the legacy of Brandon Lee's movie and how it's carried over into the new adaptation, Huston acknowledged that the original is a cult classic for a reason, going on to assure that the team didn't want to remake the 1994 movie, but instead "make something different" that pulls from both the previous movie and its graphic novel as inspiration. Check out what Huston shared below:

Yeah, in a way, you don't want to really remake things that are good, you want to kind of leave them alone, because they're good. Why remake them? But having said that, they're also an inspiration, and as much as you want to respect what was made before, you also want to do something different. You don't want to imitate it, you'd be doing the same thing, and it would be worse, it wouldn't be as good, let's put it that way. So, here, there was an opportunity to tell this kind of Murder of Crows, inky story about revenge and just create a different visual language for it, but yet still be inspired by it and its characters, but make something different.

The Crow Isn't A Remake (& That's A Good Thing)

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With a more visceral approach than the previous movie and drastically different visual style, Skarsgård's movie has all the right elements to set itself apart from Brandon Lee's The Crow.

Huston's assurance that the team behind the new Crow movie don't want to try and imitate the original is sure to come as somewhat of a welcome comment for those skeptical about the movie. Beyond the original movie's complicated legacy surrounding Lee's infamous accidental death during production, the new adaptation endured well over a decade in development hell before finally getting off the ground with Skarsgård and co. involved. Matters were only made worse when original director Alex Proyas and star Rochelle Davis shared their blunt opinions on the reimagining, particularly the appearance given to the titular character.

Related 8 The Crow Differences Between Bill Skarsgård & Brandon Lee's Appearance As Bill Skarsgård takes up the mantle of playing The Crow, his styling and costume show some big changes from the original Brandon Lee version.

In spite of some of the backlash and reservations, there are a number of reasons why Skarsgård's The Crow could prove a welcome return for the franchise to the big screen, the first of which is Huston's promise that it's not trying to be a remake. Though there are instances of remakes faring well in comparison to their predecessors, the consensus among audiences is they are generally unnecessary, particularly if the original was well-received. But, unlike other superhero or comic-book-based franchises, in which notable plot points are repeated in familiar fashion, The Crow already looks to be doing things differently.

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With a more visceral and violent approach than the previous movie and drastically different visual style, Skarsgård's movie has all the right elements to set itself apart from Brandon Lee's The Crow. Though the original had plenty of action, it's clear the team of the new film have leaned into the R-rating for a different approach to adapting its source material which, even if it's not welcomed by all, will at least be embraced by those keen to see O'Barr's world brought back to life for a modern audience.

Brandon Lee's The Crow is available to stream on Paramount+.