The Scarecrow Confirmed For Gotham

Another classic Batman rogue is making his way to Gotham.

The Scarecrow, Gotham City’s master of fear, is set for a series debut later this season. Speaking at Stan Lee’s Comikaze convention this weekend, Gotham executive producer Danny Cannon revealed that viewers would meet an adolescent Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow’s alter-ego. This would put Crane in Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle’s age bracket, putting them all at the same pace to adopt their masked personas at the same general time. This is a strain from some of Gotham’s other future villains, like The Riddler and The Penguin, who are around 10 years older.

Gotham will add a new wrinkle to Scarecrow’s legacy by making him a multi-generational character. According to Cannon, Crane’s father will torment a pre-Batman Gotham as its first official Scarecrow. This development would give the series a way to incorporate Batman’s more popular rogues into the series’ timespan, while still saving them for the Dark Knight’s eventual career. In this universe, The Scarecrow could be an equally-menacing rogue for both Jim Gordon and The Dark Knight. 

In the comics, the Scarecrow is a major Batman villain who uses a special “fear gas” that makes its victims hallucinate their deepest phobias. A member of Batman lore since 1941, The Scarecrow entered pop culture prominence as a recurring villain in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. He is slated as a major villain in next year’s Batman: Arkham Knight video game.

Gotham’s next episode, “Penguin’s Umbrella” airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.