The Crow and Two of Its Sequels Are Coming to HBO Max

WarerMedia’s HBO Max today revealed its full slate of new titles coming to the streaming service in December and included on the list are a host of comic book properties. Not only will Wonder Woman 1984 be released on the service on Christmas Day, but two staples of 90s comic book movies will arrive with Spawn and The Crow both being debuting on HBO Max on December 1. The Crow won’t be alone however with two of its follow-up movies also being released with The Crow: City Of Angels, and The Crow: Wicked Prayer both also debuting at the same time.

Released in 1994, The Crow became a cult hit not only for its influence on underground and goth culture but because the film’s star Brandon Lee (the son of Bruce) was tragically killed on the set of the movie in an accident with a firearm. Despite the shocking death of Lee, the film was completed, ultimately released, and eventually followed up with more movies in the series. In addition to the above mentioned City of Angels and Wicker Prayer, a third sequel (The Crow: Salvation) was also released. A TV series, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, also aired for one season.

Ultimately the original film has been the only entry in the series that fans have continued to quote and shower with affection in the years since. If you ask one co-star of the orignal film though, it never should have become a franchise in the end anyway and should have stopped after Brandon Lee’s movie was released.

“Well, James O’Barr is a friend and he created this thing as his graphic novel. And Brandon taking it on, I knew Brandon before we did the movie,” Lee’s The Crow co-star Ernie Hudson told ComicBook.com in a previous interview. “We had some problems sort of pulling it together, but when Brandon died, it’s even hard to verbalize. I’ve done action movies, but nobody gets hurt. I mean, it’s close to impossible, at least in my mind that that could happen, but it did happen. And so, I love being a part of that movie and Alex Proyas, who directed it, he was a wonderful director, he really took special care to make sure the movie was what it is. But, in my mind, it was kind of done.”

He added, “Maybe there could be other Crows or whatever, but, it’s not like Ghostbusters, which I thought, ‘Oh yeah, you can have a lot of them.’ I just thought Brandon was The Crow and, as far as I was concerned, once he died and we went back to finish it, it was done in my mind. I know they’ve made others, but I’ve never seen them. Brandon was The Crow, and that’s how I feel. Now, fans feel otherwise. Obviously, the studio feels otherwise, because it could be a great franchise, but sometimes I think it’s very specific.”

The Crow will arrive on HBO Max on December 1.