If you haven't seen the movie yet, please be warned. The Rock, Dave Bautista, and John Cena are pro wrestlers who became major stars in pop culture. Sean Durkin wants to reach people who don't know about the legend of the Von Erich family in "The Iron Claw."
The Von Erich brothers, including Kevin, David, Kerry, Jeremy Allen White, and Mike, aren't seen in the movie, but they are chronicled in the real-life drama. "Iron Claw" is a film about the love of wrestling, but it is really a family story. The film is based on the true story of the Von Erichs but, like the world of wrestling itself, figuring out what is real and what is not can be difficult.
Was the name change a family curse? Kevin tells Pam how his father adopted his grandmother's name even though her family had weathered all sorts of tragedy, even though it was seemingly cursed. I think that is true, and I think that Jack Adkisson was the man who started using the Von Erich name as a hated Nazi villain in the 1950s and 60s. There are some things in the world of wrestling that are myth and some that are not.
The deaths of the family's sons in 1984 and 1987 are now referred to as the Von Erich curse. Jack Jr., the sixth son, was killed at age 6 by an electric shock.
In the movie, Kevin received a postcard from his brother David, who died in Japan.
The suicide notes in the movie were written by the brothers.
David was supposed to take on Flair for the National Wrestling Alliance title, but Kevin and Kerry didn't flip a coin to see who would win. Kerry got in a motorcycle accident that cost him his foot after Kevin won the coin flip. Kerry did win the match months after David died but the accident actually happened in 1986. If David doesn't go to Japan and he goes to a doctor, is the chain of events ever going to start?
Was there really a Von Erich family? Wrestlers took on the Von Erich name because they weren't related to the family. Ricky Vaughn was hired to play cousin "Lance" in 1985 after Mike was injured. There is a scene from that time where Fritz tried to keep the dynasty going after David died. Kerry is not back in action yet after losing his foot, Kevin is not happy with his wrestling career, and Mike is out with toxic-shock syndrome. There is a fleeting role for this "imposter" in the film, but it's more about Kevin's emotional journey through all the loss that he was going through.
Chris Von Erich is not depicted in the movie "The Iron Claw" because his younger brother is missing. Chris' story is very similar to that of other siblings, and when he wrote the Iron Claw script, he realized it would be hard for a movie to sustain a repetition of that tragedy. I wrestled with that for a long time and finally made a decision that felt right.
It was difficult to make a movie out of the Von Erich saga. It was difficult to make every decision because there was never going to be enough room for everything.
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