The Scarecrow (Batman Begins)
From Pop-Cult Guides
Jonathan Crane a. k. a. the Scarecrow, a fictional DC Comics villain enemy of Batman, appears in the 2005 movie Batman Begins, portrayed by Cillian Murphy. This version of the Scarecrow is a disturbed, corrupt psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology at Arkham Asylum, secretly allied with Ra's al Ghul and Carmine Falcone, smuggling the former's hallucinogenic drugs into Gotham to create fear gas to use upon his patients in cruel experiments. He first appears in the film as Dr. Jonathan Crane, testifying in court that Victor Zsasz, allied with Carmine Falcone, was legally insane, and therefore was not able to help in his own defense. This act enraged Rachel Dawes, who accuses him of being corrupt. Crane then meets with Falcone to discuss having Rachel murdered. When Falcone later attempts to blackmail Crane, Crane dons his Scarecrow mask for the first time in the film and happily douses Falcone with his fear gas, driving the mobster insane.
In Crane's first encounter with Batman, he sprays Batman with his fear toxin and sets him on fire, though Batman narrowly escapes with his life and mind intact. With the help of Lucius Fox, Batman acquires an antidote to the toxin. Shortly thereafter, Batman has a second confrontation with Dr. Crane, this time at Arkham, where he must rescue Rachel Dawes after Crane has sprayed her with his toxin. Batman overpowers Crane's henchmen and gives the doctor a dose of his own medicine, destroying what's left of his sanity. Crane is subsequently arrested by James Gordon, but later escapes in the mass release of Arkham inmates prompted by Ra's Al Ghul as part of his plot to destroy Gotham. As Ra's Al Ghul unleashes Crane's fear gas on the Narrows, Crane, now calling himself Scarecrow, pursues Rachel and a boy through an alley on a horse dragging a dead police officer. Although Rachel eludes Scarecrow by shocking him in the face with her tazer, Scarecrow is still at large by the end of the movie.
He wears a mask, seemingly a poorly stitched burlap sack with a hangman's noose dangling around the neck. The mask acts as a gas mask, and to enhance the effect of the hallucinations in his experiments. The mask is put to good use when a victim is poisoned (Batman hallucinates bats literally flying out of the "mouth", while assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes hallucinates worms growing from it). His voice is also distorted when the victim is contaminated with the toxin thanks to a voice scrambler built into the mask. He also wears an unbound straightjacket at the movie's climax.
A "second-stage" mask was designed for the film to be used in one of the final sequences. The mask during a hallucination would appear to almost be melting or dripping off his face, but such scenes were not included in the final cut.[1]
The depiction of the character and Murphy's performance was well-received by many fans. Since Scarecrow has not yet been recaptured, there have been many rumors and speculations on the character's possible return to the films. Murphy said in an interview that he would indeed return if director Christopher Nolan were to ask for it.
