Gotham To Go Full Horror With Its Scarecrow Comeback

Famous Batman foe the Scarecrow will return to Gotham in season 4, with executive producer John Stephens saying the upcoming season will see the character featuring in “a horror movie episode.”

“At the very beginning of the season, Penguin has solidified his control upon Gotham like never before. Where he’s kind of unionized crime,” Stephens told CinemaBlend. “And scarecrow comes in to basically reintroduce fear into Gotham and to remind people that the dark is still scary out there. And we’re really going to fashion, especially Episode 2, almost a horror movie episode where we really get to see Scarecrow. I think he’s, like, purely terrifying. Imagine, rather than the other versions of Scarecrow out there — because there are a lot of different versions — what if you just really tell Scarecrow as a horror movie? Because he could be scary as hell.”

Jonathan Crane (Charlie Tahan), the future Scarecrow, first appeared in Gotham‘s premiere season as son of the deranged Dr. Gerald Crane (Julian Sands). Initially hesitant towards his father’s criminal deeds, Jonathan later overdosed on the elder Crane’s anti-fear serum, seemingly trapping the young man in a world of his worst fears. With daddy Crane dead by way of police shootout, the pieces are in place for Jonathan Crane to assume the identity of the horrific Scarecrow.

A mentally unhinged fear monger is a perfect enemy for Batman (or a future Batman), with the character having appeared in multiple films, cartoons, and video games since his creation in 1941. Scarecrow made repeat appearances throughout Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, also popping up in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Scarecrow made his live-action debut as the secondary villain in Batman Begins, with Crane returning for both of Christopher Nolan’s followups, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Most recently, Scarecrow starred as the main villain in Batman: Arkham Knight, the closer to Rocksteady’s Batman video game trilogy.

Gotham season 4 debuts Thursday, September 21st at 8/7c on Fox.