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| “ | I’m going to kill them. Every single one of them. | „ |
| ~ Eric vow to kill his murders |
Eric Draven, also known as The Crow, is the titular main protagonist of the 2024 gothic superhero action film of the same name, based on the 1989 comic book series of the same name by James O'Barr.
He was portrayed by Bill Skarsgård, who also played Zeitgeist in Deadpool 2, Keith Toshko in Barbarian and Boy in Boy Kills The World.
Biography[]
Much of Eric’s childhood is unknown, apart from watching his beloved horse die and then seeing his home burn down some time later. As an adult, Eric is confined to a mental institution for drug abuse; where he is constantly tormented by both the other inmates and by the guards. While there, he meets a woman named Shelly Webster, whom he’s instantly attracted to due to a powerful “aura” she gives off. Not longer after they meet, a group of dangerous individuals who are after Shelly come to the institution to retrieve her. This causes Eric and Shelly to flee the building.
After spending so much time together and taking each other’s virginity, the pair start to fall deeply in love. But when one of Shelly’s old friends approaches her to warn her to run, she failed to escape, and the same people from before catch up with her and Eric; and the pair are killed. While Shelly’s soul slowly approaches the bowels of Hell, Eric’s soul enters the space between the living and the dead.
Here, he meets a gentleman who says he has a second chance, and sends him back to the mortal world to put the wrong things right. After getting shot and stabbed by an employee of the people who killed him, Eric heals moments later much to his shock. After killing the employee and returning to the space between worlds, the gentleman from before explains that when Eric died, he was given the power of a god, and it was his love for Shelly that made him unkillable. After understanding his mission to kill the people who killed him in order to move on peacefully, Eric returns once again to finish what he started.
However, when Eric sees the video of what Shelly did, his love for her is shaken, and his powers fade, which allows him to be gunned down by another employee and killed for good this time. But instead of choosing to go peacefully into the afterlife, Eric chooses to take Shelly’s place in Hell if it means she’ll live again. Seeing Eric’s heart was pure and he had no intention of being stopped, his crow dove into his body and the gentlemen gave him access to the black blood of the damned, which granted him even more power than he had before, but at the cost of his humanity; slowly growing darker with each life he takes; most likely because the blood of the damned corrupted his soul.
Eric now fully embraces his role as The Crow, and sets off to the opera house, where he kills every single one of the gang members, except the leader Vincent Roeg, who is not present at the opera house. Pleased with seeing the power to defeat death itself, Vincent ambitiously awaits Eric at his home, so that he might kill him and take his powers for himself. After a brief talk, Eric is subdued by Vincent’s demonic ability to corrupt and control people. With Eric distracted Vincent attempts to steal his abilities, and briefly succeeds, before Eric’s love for Shelly helps him push through Vincent’s mind control.
After losing his grip on both Eric and Eric’s powers, Vincent attempts to kill Eric, but is tackled by Eric out of the mortal world and into the space between worlds; where Vincent is killed by the very demons he made a deal with centuries ago. With all of the gang members now dead, Eric’s mission has been completed, and Shelly’s soul is released from Hell. After seeing each other for one last time, the two are forced to part ways once again as Shelly is brought back to life by Kronos; the same gentleman who has been helping Eric, and has now come back to life as well. With Shelly’s soul no longer belonging to Hell, Eric remains in the space between worlds forever and replaces Kronos as the new gatekeeper of the land of the dead, with the hope that he and Shelly will one day be reunited.
Personality[]
Growing up, Eric was a depressed and lonely person who was easily made fun of by others, but didn’t care enough to stand up for himself. After meeting Shelly, something changed inside Eric, and for the first time, he felt happiness and love. But after losing the love of his life and fully embracing his newfound supernatural powers and immortal mission, Eric became every bit the monster the man who killed him was. But after saving Shelly and finishing his quest, Eric has once again become content with his actions and has found happiness again.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Undead physiology: After Eric died, a curse was placed on his soul due to the grief he had when he passed. As a result, Eric’s soul would be restored on earth, now equipped with various supernatural powers that made him virtually unstoppable; and according to Kronos, powers that were equal to that of a god. After agreeing to never go to peace and amplifying his curse by accepting the blood of the damned, Eric became much stronger and far more dangerous than before.
- Superhuman strength: Since dying and coming back to life, Eric has become much stronger. He can overpower fully grown men with ease, and even utilize a heavy shotgun as if it were a club.
- Superhuman speed: Since dying and coming back to life, Eric has become much faster. This is shown during his fight at the opera house, where he used his enhanced speed to attack Vincent’s men.
- Superhuman agility: Since dying and coming back to life, Eric has become much more agile and lighter on his feet. He can make quick turns, and almost effortlessly dodge attacks.
- Superhuman reflexes: Coupled with his increased speed, Eric possesses highly sharp reflexes. He was able to counter Vincent Roeg’s effort to attack him, as well as evade many attacks by Vincent’s troops.
- Superhuman stamina: Now that Eric is immortal, he no longer needs to eat, sleep or drink anything in order to sustain himself.
- Superhuman durability: While not invulnerable, Eric’s body has become unkillable since gaining his powers, allowing him to survive hails of gunfire, swords, knives and everything in between.
- Accelerated healing factor: With his newfound powers, Eric can heal from any injury within a matter of minutes; though he does still feel the pain of the injuries. After agreeing to go to Hell instead of Shelly, Eric’s powers became even stronger to the point that he heals from several bullet wounds almost immediately.
- Self-resurrection: Every time Eric dies, he winds up back in the world between the living and the dead, and can always return to his body to have another chance. After his powers were enhanced, he can no longer be killed by anything.
- Immortality: With his abilities, Eric is immortal and will live forever as long as his mission remains incomplete. He is immune to age, sicknesses and man-made weapons.
- Resurrection: By agreeing to Take Shelly’s place and never being able to rest peacefully, Eric was able to save her soul from Hell, and by extension, resurrect her from the dead. But it’s unlikely he can resurrect anyone he pleases, as it was part of the deal Eric made, and there is also a balance that must be maintained. So it was likely a one time thing.
- Interdimensional travel: After gaining enhanced power by expanding his curse, Eric gained the Crow’s ability to travel between worlds at will. He can teleport out of the mortal world and into the land of the dead, and then reappear in the mortal world in a different area.
- Combat skills: While having no training and practically never being in a fight, with the aid of his powers to protect him from harm, Eric is a skilled fighter, especially with his katana; being able to single-handedly massacre an entire team of trained hitmen.
Trivia[]
- There are certain differences between this Eric and the 90’s Eric. For one, this Eric didn’t lose his powers and die peacefully when his mission was complete. Another difference is this Eric was able to save his Shelly, as opposed to the other Eric who simply avenged his Shelly’s death. And unlike the 90’s Eric, who moved on to the afterlife once he finished his job on earth, the reboot Eric sacrificed his chance at eternal peace, so that Shelly could live again, and is now trapped in the world between world forever; with this acting as his own personal Hell.
- Despite the movie being given negative reviews, Bill Skarsgard received praised for his performance and actions as Eric.
- At the end of the movie, Eric’s body is still in the same place it was when he was murdered. This indicates it was his soul walking around killing all the criminals, while his physical body was still dead on the ground the whole time. This is further evidenced by how the crow would carry a person’s SOUL off to the land of the dead, but if something bad happened, the crow would bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.
- Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Alexander Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Jack O'Connell and Jason Momoa were all considered for the role of Eric Draven.