The protagonist of the comic book-based The Crow saga, Eric Draven is one of the most iconic fictional antiheroes of all time. Created by James O’Barr back in 1989, he was initially played by the late Brandon Lee in the 1994 film of the same name, which became a massive cult classic.
Over the years, it spawned three more installments in the film series till 2005. But then the franchise was once again announced to be resurrected in 2008, and Jason Momoa became the final contender to play the lead in the remake by 2016.
However, Momoa’s tenure as the antihero was cut short due to an unexpected exit from the movie, and the role of Draven was passed on to Bill Skarsgård, who recently got the trailer released for his film and will soon be seen in the upcoming reboot.
But there’s a twist here: The test footage images of Momoa embodying Draven in the most terrifying way were recently released ahead of the release of Skarsgård’s remake, and fans can’t help but express just how better Momoa looks in the role as compared to Skarsgård’s joker-like look.
Jason Momoa’s Look as Eric Draven Could Creep You Out
While Jason Momoa is renowned for bringing utter excellence to every character he gets assigned, he unarguably took it to a whole another level with his look as Eric Draven. If anything, it is a lot better than what fans will get in the soon-to-be-released remake.
Recently, @RetroReminiscer took to X to share images of the Aquaman actor as the fan-favorite antihero. These were taken from the test footage released of the Corin Hardy-helmed reboot of the 1994 cult classic that almost came to be but was aborted unexpectedly.
Test footage photos showing actor Jason Momoa as Eric Draven in the aborted Corin Hardy reboot for THE CROW. pic.twitter.com/1K4uBHdpN2
— The Retro Reminiscer (@RetroReminiscer) March 16, 2024
Despite being pixelated images, the photos inevitably show Momoa as a better version of Draven and something more inclined to what fans expected to see after finding out that their favorite film from 1994 starring the late Brandon Lee was getting rebooted.
For those unaware, the renowned Fast X star was confirmed to star in Sony’s planned remake of The Crow as Eric Draven, and filmmaker Corin Hardy was set to helm the movie. However, the film failed to launch due to reasons cited as financial issues, as per THR.
Then two years ago, Bill Skarsgård became the final choice to play the beloved antihero in a film directed by Rupert Sanders, and this version will finally be hitting the theatres by the 7th of June, 2024, following the recent release of its trailer.
However, these images shared of Momoa as the protagonist of the reboot that never came to be ahead of the release of the Skarsgård-starrer remake has further soured fans’ moods, with many of them even calling the latter’s version a bit more Joker-like as compared to the former’s.
Fans are Now Calling Bill Skarsgård’s Crow Look Joker-like
Although the James O’Barr-created saga highly focuses on righting the wrongs, the fan reactions comparing Skarsgård’s Draven with Momoa’s make it evident that the situation just might be the opposite here. Taking to X, here’s what they’re saying now:
Yeah, I thought you might like this one 😂 He looks better than the Skarsgård version we're getting now, I will say that.
— The Retro Reminiscer (@RetroReminiscer) March 16, 2024
dude wtf jason looks exactly brandon with paint on!
we got stuck another suicide squad joker— Dangerous_alchemy (@evie_alchemist) March 16, 2024
idk, this looks better than what we're getting
— Brendon Marotta (@bdmarotta) March 16, 2024
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM!
THEY MISSED OUT!
— NFLComedySkits (@NFLComedySkits) March 16, 2024
I never heard about this. Definitely don’t want to mess with that Crow
— Chris DeSantis (Author) (@BookSantis) March 16, 2024
The fact we almost got a true reboot to the original and in dedication to the Brandon crow movie, after witnessing that garbage trailer this weekend makes me more infuriated.
— Chris Mannix (@Chris_Mannix_) March 16, 2024
This looks much better than JokerCrow
— Mecha McCheese (@MccheeseMecha) March 16, 2024
Even though fans have been desperately longing for a good remake of the original 1994 film for as long as they can remember, it seems that the upcoming Skarsgård version isn’t something they’re truly looking for.
Nonetheless, perhaps the Rupert Sanders-helmed film will give fans more than what the eyes can meet. To know that for sure, we’ll have to wait until the release of The Crow, which is set to hit the theatres by the 7th of June, 2024.
