THE CROW Reboot Director Explains Bill Skarsgård's Look as the Lead Character

The more I look at that first image of Bill Skarsgård as The Crow in the upcoming reboot, the more I see a version of The Joker. But, that was not an inspiration for the new look of the character. In fact, the look of the character wasn’t even inspired by the James O’Barr comic book series, or even Brandon Lee’s take on the character in Alex Proyas’ original film.

When coming up with the look, director Rupert Sanders explains that he looked at Skarsgård’s natural assets, and gazed into his own past to find the design of the character for the film. The filmmaker shared in an interview with Vanity Fair:

“I think the beauty of Bill is that he has a disturbing beauty, and as he transforms through his loss he becomes this thing that even he can’t control. It’s that famous line: ‘Whoever fights monsters must be careful that they don’t become one.’ That look was me in the ’90s when we were squat-raving in London, [mixed with some modern influences] like Post Malone and Lil Peep. I hope people who are 19 today look at him and go, ‘That guy is us.’ The moment we realize bad things are coming.”

I’m mostly curious about Skarsgård's take on the character and the performance he delivers because he’s such a strong actor. He’s really the only reason why I have any interest in the film. I’m going to give the film a watch, but I doubt it will be better than the original.

In the film: “Soulmates Eric Draven (Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (FKA Twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.”

The movie also stars singer/actor FKA Twigs, Danny Huston (30 Days of Night), Laura Birn (Foundation), Sami Bouajila (A Son), and Jordan Bolger (The Woman King).

The Crow hits theaters June 7.