The Iron Claw Director Explains Why The Youngest Von Erich Brother Was Excluded From The Movie

The Iron Claw director has a reason why one of the Von Erich brothers was not included in the movie. The Zac Efron-starring biopic tells the true story of the Von Erich family, chronicling their rise in professional wrestling until a series of successive tragic events painted the family as cursed in the eyes of the public. However, one of the brothers, Chris Von Erich, did not make the final cut, as it solely focuses on Kevin’s (Zac Efron) relationship with Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson), and Mike (Stanley Simons).

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Durkin explained why Chris was not in the movie. Stating that it was an impossible choice to cut Chris out of the movie on a human level, he reveals that he was in the screenplay for five years but felt that it was too repetitive for the story, and the film likely couldn’t endure another tragedy. Check out what he said on the matter below:

There was a repetition to it, and it was one more tragedy that the film couldn’t really withstand. I honestly don’t know if it would have gotten made. Chris was in the script for five years. […] When you’re trying to get a film made, you have to separate it at some point and say, ‘These are characters on a page, and this is a film, and there’s no way you’re going to fully capture the life of a person in a film.’ You have to make difficult choices to try and get to something truthful or representative or emotional that reflects the core of the journey you’re choosing to tell within this family.

The Iron Claw’s True Story Of The Von Erich Family Is Deeply Tragic

As Durkin states in the aforementioned quote, the story of The Iron Claw is deeply tragic. While including Chris in the biopics would’ve been far more authentic in its portrayal of the Von Erich family, it would’ve added more drama and tragedy to the film. While Kevin Von Erich is the only living brother, each of the Von Erich brothers passed away under tragic circumstances within a relatively close timeframe to each other.

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Only Jack Jr, the first Von Erich child, passed away before most of the brothers did. David, Mike, and Kerry, respectively, died in 1984, 1987, and 1993. Had the movie included Chris, it would have also depicted his death from suicide in 1991 at the age of 21. David’s death marked the downfall of the Von Erich family’s rise in wrestling, with their father, Fritz (Holt McCallany), grappling with the loss of what seemed to be an invincible empire in the wrestling world.

However, the legacy of the Von Erich family lives on through Kevin’s children, Ross and Marshall, alongside Kerry’s daughter, Lacey, competing in professional wrestling. They are now the third generation of Von Erich wrestlers to compete in the sport. Now, Von Erich’s story is being depicted in The Iron Claw, which has been praised for its heartbreaking storytelling and depiction of the family.