The Only Actor to Play Scarecrow in a Live-Action Movie Is Still One of the Best DC Villains Ever

Batman’s rogues’ gallery often feels like it’s ever-expanding, but there are undeniably a few tried and true villains the audience will never grow sick of seeing. One such example is Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. Jonathan Crane grew up in a world of fear, and he turned that fear into a weapon. As the Scarecrow, he experiments on those around him, delighting in creating new hallucinogenic fear toxins. In his twisted mind, there’s nothing better than creating panic through absolute terror. Scarecrow has, thus far, only appeared in three live-action takes, two of which were shows. That leaves only one instance in which this villain has appeared on the big screen, and it has yet to be topped.

The infamous Crane has appeared all over the DC Comic Universe, made his way into animated series, and lastly, created a name for himself in various live-action forms. In Gotham, he was a tortured teenager who slowly learned how to rebel. Titans portrayed the young man all grown up, now Dr. Crane, and the secret hiding behind Jason Todd. Last, but certainly not least, there’s the version of Scarecrow portrayed in The Dark Knight trilogy. Cillian Murphy is the only actor to achieve the goal of playing Scarecrow in a DC movie, and in the process, he created one of the best DC Villains of all time.

A Terrifying Force of Nature in Batman Begins

Batman Begins was a groundbreaking film for DC, bringing the titular character to the big screen in ways fans had only ever dreamed of. As the first of the trilogy, this movie did much of the heavy lifting, establishing the iconic hero and his story. One of the first supervillains to line up against Batman was the one and only Scarecrow.

Scarecrow’s story begins normally enough, with Dr. Crane dancing on the line between good and evil. At the start of the film, he’s a psychologist working for the wrong sort of people, and it doesn’t take long to realize there’s something corrupt about the association. Throughout the film, Crane descends into his unique version of madness, obsessing over perfecting his fear toxin and spreading it to Gotham.

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Unlike a lot of supervillain origin stories, Batman Begins didn’t do a deep dive into Crane’s backstory. Thus, Cillian Murphy has to tell the story through his acting, and he met that challenge head-on. His instability is broadcast to viewers through Crane’s mannerisms. At a glance, Crane may look like a charming young man with an expressive face, but we all know the dangers of a pretty face, don’t we? Murphy leans on those trained fears, intentionally triggering something in our lizard brain that screams, “Run!”

An Ongoing Threat

The revolving door of Arkham Asylum is equal parts terrifying and discouraging. It seems these walls were never meant to hold the likes of Scarecrow, who makes an appearance in all three The Dark Knight films. In the second film, The Dark Knight, Crane has already made his way out of Arkham, but things are different this time. Crane is done trying to juggle two personalities and instead has fully embraced his life as the Scarecrow. This seemingly small transition tells an important story: a self-fulfilling prophecy surrounding Batman and his rogues.

Cillian Murphy portrays an utterly unfazed and ironically unafraid Scarecrow. He doesn’t much care about losing another fight to Batman, as he’s got this system down. This brings us to The Dark Knight Rises, which brings about the sort of world Crane could thrive in. After Bane took over the city, Scarecrow rose up, ditched his mask, and became king of his own little court. Legal court, that is. He returns to the courtrooms of Gotham City, but this time, instead of acting as defense for the criminally insane, he’s the judge. It may have only been two minutes of judging that viewers saw, but Cillian Murphy ensured this moment stuck.

Leaving a Mark

Throughout his acting career, Cillian Murphy has proven he has what it takes to tell an emotionally complex story. He’s also showcased his range, from Oppenheimer to Peaky Blinders and everything in between. So, in a way, it’s not surprising that he has done something that few other actors have achieved.

There’s no denying the mark The Dark Knight Trilogy left on superhero films. More importantly, Cillian Murphy left an indelible mark on the way the public perceives the Scarecrow. This is a feat several actors achieved in this run, as Heath Ledger changed the perception of the Joker, and Tom Hardy did with Bane. The biggest difference is that, thus far, nobody has had the chance to try and top Cillian Murphy. The Scarecrow has yet to reappear in any DC film franchise.