Raven was a key character in the first season ofTwisted MetalonPeacock, which is based on the Sony Interactive Entertainment vehicular combat video game franchise. Played byNeve Campbell, she is the one who sends John Doe (Anthony Mackie) on the dangerous mission to retrieve something from the elusive Calypso (Anthony Carrigan).
However, in Season 2 of the post-apocalyptic action comedy, Raven is gone. But actually, she’s not. She’s back, but she’s… different.
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Raven in Season 1 vs. Raven in Season 2 of ‘Twisted Metal’
Campbell does not return to the series to repriseher role as Raven, but Raven is still an integral part of the plot. How?Patty Guggenheimnow plays her as a much younger, goth-like woman who is clearly not the same person, but sort of is. Wait, how does that work?
The lore suggests that there are actually many Ravens. The name is one that leaders of various communities go by in their positions. They are all supposedly representations of the real Raven, who never shows her face. Think of it like Negan inThe Walking Dead. If someone asked any of his cult-like Saviors their name, they would respond with “I am Negan.” They were not to have an identity beyond their service to him. Raven in this series is supposedly the same.
While both are Ravens, Campbell’s Raven was a more mature woman with a family, though her husband and baby were more of a façade than anything else. She was dark and cruel, obsessed with achieving one goal. It’s revealed atthe end ofTwisted MetalSeason 1that the important package she sent John to get was nothing more than a pint of her favorite ice cream flavor she couldn’t find anywhere else in the vast wasteland. But Calypso could procure it easily thanks to his seemingly magical powers.
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Why did she send John on the mission for a sweet treat? It was all a test. She needed to see if John was up to the task of being her driver in Calypso’s deadly upcoming game involving all the best drivers from all the neighboring communities. By contrast, Guggenheim’s Raven is less mature, more cartoonish, and overly dramatic. The season kicks off with her teenage backstory, where she attempts to play a joke on fellow high schoolers by reading cards and delivering ominous truths. But she’s really pranking them with the help of her friend, who is outside working as her accomplice. But when her friend falls into the pool and tragically drowns, Raven is heartbroken.
Her desire to win this race, where the winner is granted a single wish, is what drives her to participate. As John discovers at the end of Episode 1, Raven is keeping her friend alive in a back room, hooked up to machines. It’s clear her wish will be to bring her friend, potentially a romantic partner as well, back to life.
How ‘Twisted Metal’ Season 2 Raven Compares to the Video Game
Interestingly, the version of Raven in Season 2 ofTwisted Metal, one ofthe best shows based on video games, is closer to the video game version than Campbell’s interpretation. Introduced in the gameTwisted Metal: Black, she’s a driver of Shadow and was previously admitted to an asylum. However, she is also the most sane of the others from the asylum. She doesn’t follow the same dark and twisted path. But make no mistake, she still takes pleasure from killing people.
Raven in Season 2 has a similar appearance to the video game version, who is a trouble-making teen obsessed with the actual raven bird. The video game character loves playing with voodoo dolls in her off time, and, like in the series, she is mourning the death of her best friend. But the backstory of her friend and her motivations in the series are slightly different.
The video game version of Raven is even more morbid than the TV show, which is presumably made so to fit with the show’s more comedic theme. In the game, Raven drives a hearse that contains the souls of dead people. In the series, Mr. Grimm (Richard de Klerk) sort of takes on that role as the asylum patient who collects the souls of people he kills (or at least believes that he does).
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Overall, the video game Raven isn’t as insane as other competitors in the race, and the same can be said about this version of Raven in the series.Campbell’s Raven appeared sane as well, though she was much more cold-hearted, ruthless, and driven by evil than Guggenheim’s Raven. The latter seems more like a grieving young woman desperate to bring her friend back to life at any cost.
In a way, Raven in Season 2 is like a Gen-Z version of the character, a brooding young woman who has found herself in a position of power that helped her mature. But she’s also inexperienced, overly confident, and motivated by emotion that she desperately tries to hide from others beneath a tough exterior.
The Jury Is Still Out on the ‘Twisted Metal’ Season 2 Change
Fans ofTwisted MetalSeason 1 may be confused by the new Raven replacing Campbell’s character. Even John comments in one scene that he likes the first Raven better than her.This Raven refers to Campbell’s Raven as “downtown Raven” and annoyingly declares that “everyone loves her,” indicating a hint of jealousy in her tone.
Yet while this Raven is supposed to be somehow evil and scary, she’s anything but. She comes across as less intimidating than Campbell’s Raven, who has a subtle yet scary quality about her.Campbell’s portrayal alignsmore with the concept of Raven as a psychopath from an asylum, whereas this Raven appears more like a young woman struggling to find herself.
The two Ravens each have qualities that fit with the video game version of the character, but both are also unique. While this Raven leans more into the comedic angle of the series, Raven in Season 1, portrayed by Campbell, was a darker, more twisted character who had a subtle sense of evil beneath her mom-like façade.
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It would be great to have both Ravens exist in the series at some point, since it appears that there are many Ravens throughout the various communities.Whether or not Campbell will make a cameo in this season or others, should the show be renewed, remains to be seen. According toRedditor gm_lilyin a thread on the topic, Campbell told fans she was not returning because the show didn’t have a budget for her. Production for the show moved from New Orleans to Canada, so the cast swap could have been due to cost-cutting.
Whatever the reason behind the switch,narrative or budget cuts, fans will not be pleased to see Campbell gone, even if Guggenheim brings a new flavor to the role. In any case, Raven lives on, though this season she appears in a completely different form.StreamTwisted MetalonPeacock.
