Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is adding The Crow as a playable character this week, and some fans think it is in poor taste. The synergy and timing work out well as this comic book anti-hero is about to get a new film adaptation, while Modern Warfare III is still a high-traffic game. However, actor Brandon Lee was accidentally shot and killed with a prop gun while playing The Crow, so some fans are not eager to see the character in such a firearm-heavy game.
The Crow is a gothic action story first created by comic book writer and artist James O’Barr for Caliber Comics in 1989. It is about a man who is killed along with his fiance but is resurrected by mysterious magical forces. He uses his newfound power to seek revenge on the men who killed them, empowered by the spirit of a crow. He will be a bit out of place in Modern Warfare III – a game that only dabbles in the supernatural with its “Zombies mode” and other side content. However, it will help promote the new film adaptation starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs, which hits theaters on Friday, Aug. 23.
The problem is the first film adaption of The Crow, produced in 1994 and starring Bruce Lee‘s son Brandon. Toward the end of the filming process, Brandon was fatally wounded by a prop gun fired with a blank round. Producers used the existing footage along with body doubles, digital effects and re-writes to complete the movie, and the story has become part of the series’ mystique, but some critics think it is a bad idea to put this character into an all-out shooting war.
Obviously, Eric Draven comes up against guns quite often in the comics and the movies, so it’s not as if fans want him to live a completely peaceful life in honor of Lee. Rather, some find this to be a particularly poor context for a character who grapples with the morality of murder – usually on a much smaller scale. GamesHub’s Leah J. Williams wrote: “To have the franchise now directly tied with Call of Duty, a game which is defined by gun violence, feels like an oversight. It feels like a misunderstanding of the franchise and its legacy.”
In fairness, The Crow is not the first character to be completely ripped out of context for a MW3 crossover. Recently, the game has featured a huge influx of WWE wrestlers, who somehow hold their own against heavily-armed military operatives in the campaign. However, these kinds of inclusions can come off as silly, while critics feel the addition of The Crow hits too close to home.
The Crow will be available in Call of Duty starting on Thursday, Aug. 22. The movie itself will premiere on Friday, Aug. 23 in theaters throughout the U.S.