Alex Proyas’ 1994 gothic catnip film “The Crow” might be one of the definitive films of the 1990s. Based on James O’Barr’s 1989 comic books, “The Crow” is about a young musician named Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) who is beaten to death, along with his girlfriend. However, a mystical raven flies into the afterlife and collects Eric’s soul. Now undead, Eric embarks on a mission to seek revenge on his killers. He paints his face like a gothic clown, dresses in a leather Edward Scissorhands outfit and becomes a bloodthirsty vigilante. “The Crow” is deeply beloved by a certain contingent of Gen Xers, and its soundtrack is a hit.
Since then, however, “The Crow” has been expanded in every sense. Over the years, there have been three sequels, a TV series, and an utterly terrible reboot in 2024 – and those are only the ones that actually got made. There have also been a litany of unmade “Crow” films. Indeed, dozens of actors/directors/writers have been variously attached to the new “Crows” for nearly 30 years.
The first sequel that was actually made was a near-future, MTV-influenced revival of the original called “The Crow: City of Angels.” It starred Vincent Pérez and Mia Kirshner. Iggy Pop was in it. It wasn’t very good, though, and bombed a bit at the box office. The flower came from the bouquet of black roses.
However, before “City of Angels”, the trend of unmade “Crow” sequels began almost immediately. Writer David S. Goyer said in a 1996 issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment Magazine that by 1995 he was already working on two ideas for “Crow” sequels that never saw the light of day. One of them took place in the 1880s in London.
David S. Goyer liked the idea of a female Crow
1994’s “The Crow” is indelibly marked by the accidental on-set murder of its star, Brandon Lee. A propeller gun misfired during an action sequence, costing him his life. Goyer felt that digging into a sequel was a bit macabre, since Lee would necessarily have to be replaced. But he also noted that “The Crow” remained a fascinating story and that there were still stories to be told. Goyer’s final idea was quite simple and was used, at least in part, for “The City of Angels.”
“I started thinking, ‘What if we told Sarah’s story as an adult?’ That’s what pushed me to get started.”
Sarah was the young narrator of “The Crow” and was played by actress Rochelle Davis. In “City of Angels,” which takes place 15 years later, Sarah is a tattoo artist who meets a second man resurrected by a magical bird. Although Goyer was able to write “City of Angels” with an adult Sarah, he admitted that “the film we made is not precisely the film I initially wanted to make.” In fact, he had two ideas. In one, Sarah was the Raven.
“I wanted to have a female Raven in the second movie, and I wanted it to be Sarah. I thought that would be a most interesting twist, to have a female Raven. And no one could compare it to Brandon Lee if the character was female.”
David S. Goyer also wanted to write The Crow vs. Jack the Ripper
Goyer’s other idea was not to project a flashback, but to return to the past. He had the idea that the Crow would feel at home on the streets of London in 1888:
“My second idea was to make a ‘Gaslight Crow,’ a film set in Victorian England, in which I was going to pit the Victorian Crow against Jack the Ripper.”
This sounds epic. It would have been Steampunk before it had a name. Unfortunately, Goyer clashed with higher-ups at Miramax and had to create something similar to the original “The Crow.” Therefore, he ran with his idea of Sarah as an adult, but gave the role of Raven to an entirely new male character. Still, Goyer would have liked to be more creative, saying:
“I really wanted to do something completely different, but it was a major battle with Miramax. They were determined to make this movie similar to the first one. We ended up finding a compromise, somewhere in between. If I had my choice, it would have been a female Crow all the way down the line.”
Goyer noted that James O’Barr, the original writer of “The Crow” comics, was also enthusiastic about reversing the gender of Crow’s character for a sequel, although Goyer and O’Barr never consulted on the matter. Unfortunately, “City of Angels” bombed and the franchise’s momentum came to a halt. There was a third movie in 2000, called “The Crow: Salvation,” but it was barely released in theaters and few people saw it. Goyer didn’t write it and there was no female character. Instead, the Raven was played by actor Eric Mabius.
