The problem with Scarecrow in Nolan is...Nolan's talent leans on either "filmmaking as brutalist puzzle box" or "filmmaking as topical commentary" or both. Kind of INSANE we never saw him do Riddler. But character psychology? Of the kind deep enough to make a really good story with Scarecrow as the central villain? No. He don't got it. I know he don't got it because of Inception, a take on dreams/mind logic that has shallower character psychology then any of the core Elm Street movies. Even Freddy's Dead would say Inception is psychologically hollow! (Freddy's Dead is a slightly worse movie ("I'll get you my pretty, and your little soul too!" Groan.), but that's one problem it doesn't have.)
I hope he becomes the main villain of the batman 2 instead of the joker or at in the third installment of it if we ever get that if that doesn't happen give the character his own animated movie like they did with two face
I think that most Batman villains fall into this category of having a good concept or a single good story, then never going anywhere. Bane will always be breaking Batman's back (or referencing that he will) Freeze will always be trying to save Nora. And Jervis will always be looking for Alice. I mean Hush hasn't done anything interesting since his debut.
I'd argue that, on the contrary, the best Hush stories came out *after* his debut. "Heart of Hush", "Hush Money", "House of Hush", "Gates of Gotham" , etc... the first "Hush" was good, but I suppose people expect so much of it, they'll almost have to be disappointed. When I read it, it was just another 'Tec/Batman mini-series, I had no expectations, so I had a good time... But had it been hyped to death beforehand, I might have been underwhelmed.
I’ve always had a concept for Mad Hatter, think I could make him really scary and full of depth, without going into grimdark pedo territory Grant Morrison or other writers take, or a complete reinvention like Gotham.
Arkham Hush had potential as far as I'm aware. I'm not very familiar with the comics, especially hush stories, but Eliot in the arkham games recreated his face to become Bruce and they never really went anywhere with it. Even in Knight he shows up for 5 minutes and the ending doesn't even really resolve anything
I never really understood why he’s not used as the mastermind character more often. With his intelligence and knowledge of psychology he should easily be able to manipulate most of the rogue gallery into serving him.
I always felt him and Ivy having a rivarly would bd cool. In Harley Quin show he would be a great foil to her. He is a coward but he is not a moron. You can make a good villain of that
I think scarecrow's legacy can be summed up by the fact that he's in all the Nolan films but is barley in any of them. He's a character that's often present but is never the main threat.
Words cannot describe how happy I am to see more and more people coming around on the, "Scarecrow deserves better train." I anxiously await Matt Reeves' take on the character and hope that he finally gives Dr. Crane his day to shine.
@@bathumb45 Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Reeves inserted just a bit of comic book logic into these movies. People would suspend their disbelief enough for a freeze gun if the movie is good. Also Scarecrow is apparently getting a spin off show like Penguin with Matt at the helm.
Ever since I played Arkham Asylum I've been of the opinion that Scarecrow is on the same tier as the Joker. Not in popularity but in terms of complexity and the ability to push Batman to the brink of insanity.
I think the worst part about Scarecrow in Begins before he's taken out is at that point, Crane had FULLY become Scarecrow and even got that menacing looking horse. Yet one taser shock and he's done with. But like you said, it was nice to see him back in The Dark Knight and Rises, even if it was minor.
Honestly, I wish Christopher Nolan would show more of Scarecrow, and especially the battle between him and Batman. The way he got defeated just felt anti-climatic, removed all the tension I had and made him more of a joke than an actual threat.
I know, the two moments between Scarecrow and Batman were gold. it felt like a buld up to an awesome conflict. the dialogue and lines were just gold "oh having trouble? Take a seat. Have a drink. You look like a man who takes himself to seriusly. You want my opionion? Ya need to lighten up" - scarecrow. ---bars but then Bats comes with "Taste of your own medicine doctor?---thats good but its unfortuantly beaten with "doctor crane is int here right now, but if you'd like to make an appointment
I mean, Christopher Nolan’s done making Batman films - unless you know something i don’t? I’m assuming you’re referring to the beginning of The Dark Knight? The Scarecrow scene was a plot device, meant to show how good Batman had become at taking down criminals, his armor’s weaknesses (dogs, mobility) and to give the Russian’s sufficient motivation to take Bruce down - i.e., a reason to ally with the Joker.
Personally, I actually liked that Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow was in each of Nolan's Batman movies. He did unfortunately get defeated rather unceremoniously in the first movie---but at least he got to enjoy being a supporting antagonist for way longer than everyone else did at being a *normal* antagonist. He had longevity and experienced all the highs and lows Gotham went through.
BB: Manipulates those manipulating the system. Scary guy but easily defeated and a smaller fish in the grand scheme of things. TDK: Sells his nightmare gas as a street drug after Batman has destroyed most other sources of illicit substances. TDKR: Arguably his most shining moment, if short, as the hostage Gothamites make him a "judge" in their renegade society after Bane destroys the bridges and threatens to nuke the city leaving them without a government. He would sentence people to walk across a deadly unstable frozen river.
I think they have menu they are thinking Mr freeze as a main villain I keep hereing that around and I'm not sure where scarecrow fits in a story about Mr freeze because Mr freeze motivations are alot more sympathetic,personal and straight forward I'm not sure where he would fit there but I'd like to see scarecrow done again but done well
I really hope if it ever happens that Reeves takes a page out of Spider-Man: Far From Home and does a scene similar to the illusion scene after Batman inhaled the fear toxin. That could lead to incredible visuals and exploration of Batman's psyche.
Totally agree. I adored Cillian Murphy's performance as Crane in Batman Begins. He's a criminally underused character. I'd love a horror movie with Crane as the main character.
Despite Scarecrow being the main antagonist in Arkham Knight, I still feel like he's been underutilized. Like we haven't seen the character at his fullest in being a psychologically dangerous foe. Also yeah in the first Lego Batman video game Scarecrow serves as one of Joker's lieutenants which foreshadowed what he becomes in other media. The Joker's unofficial best friend 😅
Tbh I think Arkham Knight comes _close_ but Gotham being empty of normal people for gameplay reasons nerfs him. You know what would have nailed it perfectly? Similar plot, but rather than an evacuation, Scarecrow teamed up with the Mad Hatter to use nanomachines in the water to mind control everyone in Gotham to fear and hate Batman. After that, pretty much everything going the same with him using the situation as cover for the cloudburst fear toxin stuff. Rather than an endless string of goons, the random basic enemies are the men and women of Gotham City. A city of Batman's fear realized.
The thing is in Arkham Knight, the game seemed more focused on making Jason Todd the main threat than Scarecrow, despite Scarecrow being the one that basically forced Gotham to evacuate
I think the issue with Arkham Knight is just that it isn’t written very well written. Scarecrow was just a classic evil mastermind villain with a nasty appearance and a sadism streak, with a fear obsession. He didn’t have any sort of mania to him like he did in Arkham Asylum, didn’t feel as much like a crazed force of nature that reflects fear itself. He should be smart but he needs to have character.
fun faction The actor who plays the Scarecrow in the Dark Knight Trilogy, Cillian Murphy was one of Christopher Nolon's initial choices for Bruce Wayne. He once stated he got lost in his blue eyes, that it scared him
Scarecrow would be great in the Batman 2 or Robbert Patterinsons series since were dealing with a batman series which is more horror esque and we have too many Jokers so testing batman resolve would be a great way to make Scarecrow a more menacing precence.
Yeah, you bring up a good point about there being too many jokers and in my opinion too many mainstream villains(popular villains). Like I feel like Batman vs Lady Shiva or Deadshot or Deathstroke would be fire.
Yeah for the love of god I really don’t want to see another joker especially if he’s the joker we saw in the deleted scene, just looked like a contrived version of heath ledgers
I was inspired by a video series i wat che'd long ago. However I love batman horror elements and since its getting confusing with Jared and Pheonix it's appropriate to give someone else a try against the bat.
I definitely always felt there was more potential with Scarecrow as the big bad solo villain. Imagine a Batman film that’s a horror movie because of Scarecrow and his fear toxin. Imagine a scene like the one in Spider-man: Far From Home when Spider-man is dealing with Mysterio and his illusions imagine that scene with Batman but with more horrific imagery. That would make a pretty compelling film if you ask me.
Scarecrow is truly incredible especially when handled properly. I love that one makes him one of the greatest Batman villains of all time is that they both utilize fear as a weapon so that they may never again experience the fear they felt when they were at their most vulnerable. I really recommend checking out Year One: Batman/Scarecrow which shows how he was abused and tormented by his grandmother and family as well as his own descent into madness during his formative years. His New 52 origin is also great.
Scarecrow is my all-time top villain, his costumes, his voice, his power, it's all so cool to me. Yet we rarely see him in a cool position or given respect. His best version in modern times was Arkham Knight, and even then he was just a side chick at the end. I'm kinda hoping Matt Reeves puts him into The Batman so we can get a real Scarecrow
If you havent, you should read “Batman: Fear State”. In that, he is the big puppet master and nearly succeds in his plot to use the whole of Gotham in his twisted Fear experiment.
If we have to see Scarecrow relegated to more villain team ups, I would love to see him and Mad Hatter work together. Both of them mirror Batman’s use of fear and psychology, and together they’d pose a very fascinating threat to him.
Thank you so much for expressing exactly how I’ve felt about Scarecrow for years now. Scarecrow is my absolute favourite villain from all comics, in my opinion, he trumps Joker, Lex Luthor, Doctor Octopus, Loki, everyone (from the comics). I agree that his actual character isn’t very deep but that should be a writer’s dream, that gives more opportunity to create something great with the character. You can show how Crane works outside of being Scarecrow, how his obsession with people’s fear stops him from building any connections with anyone since his interests only lie in what keeps them up at night. This can apply to villains he works for, nobody takes him seriously since all he goes on about is fear so he feels like a joke among the other Batman rouges. If the character is all about delving into other people’s psyche then why not have a story where we delve into his own, what does the Master of Fear fear? This came across more as a pitch than a praise for your video but the point stands, a lack of character should be seen as potential greatness, not another background character to fill out the villain quota
I think people really love putting Scarecrow and Joker together because of their conflicting 'interests'. Fear vs laughter. There are a lot of Joker appearances without Scarecrow so that isn't really a problem when it comes to Joker but it is a shame for Scarecrow cause he really never gets to shine on his own. Oh yeah 'How about a little fire Scarecrow?', makes me think that Firefly would have a field day with him (pun intended)
I think another reason why Joker doesn't really like Scarecrow is because Joker wants everybody to be more afraid of HIM. He always wants to be on center stage.
100% agree. Scarecrow has some of the best actors bring him to life only to be a glorified henchman. Shame cuz he’s such a cool character with SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Give my man Crane the spotlight he deserves.
I think the scarecrow’s issue is that the fear toxin overtakes too much of the character, becoming a plot device. You spray the toxin and all the focus is really on the fear or psychological issues of the character themself. At best he might use it on a security guard or mook who writhes screaming on the floor, while he steals a thing or whatever. At worst we get the same plot beats in every single scarecrow story: hero gets sprayed with fear, deals with fear, hero no longer affected by fear gas because Le Will Power What would help more is if scarecrows obsession with fear extended beyond just spilling Spooky Juice. He’s a twisted researcher, he should be coming up with new formulas, or nothing even to do with the toxin, abusing subjects just for whatever he considers a good experiment based on fear. Or just trying to spread fear without it. What if he became fixated on another villain, like joker or two face and trying to see what their fear is? Batman TAS did some pretty good episodes by having different twists on the formula, like removing all fear rather than giving it. I think the idea of a villain who seems out research would give a very different spin on an antagonist, as someone doing bad things to people but purely out of a interest in experimenting, devoid of humanity
If you want a good take on the scarecrow, I recommend the recently released second season of Batman: the audio adventures. His voice actor does such a good job, and his schemes, mannerisms and way of speaking constitute a slightly different, but nonetheless great take on the character. He’s also acting as a free agent rather than working for someone else, which is a big plus
Great video, as always! Just wanted to point out a small detail... >"In the TV series *Gotham* , Scarecrow is pretty prevalent in the final 2 seasons of the show, but it's also during that he's led by Joker stand-ins Jérôme & Jeremiah Valeska" Well, _akchtually_ , Scarecrow was in only 1 episode of season 5, in which he's leading his own gang, and isn't working for Jeremiah or anybody else... And in season 4, he starts with an awesome 2-episodes mini-arc in which he's the Big Bad, and isn't working for Jérôme (Pax Penguina & the Fear Reaper) Then in the third episode, he indeed creates an alliance with Jérome and the Mad Hatter, and from there on he pretty much works under Jérôme. But Scarecrow never works with Jeremiah... It's interesting to note that the main reason Jonathan Crane took such a backseat compared to his first appearances (in which he frequently removed his mask), was because his actor, Charlie Tahan, had to leave *Gotham* since he had landed an important role on *Ozark* (a really good show)... He was replaced by David W Thompson, and in this incarnation, the one working under Jérôme, his face is never seen again, for continuity's sake... which is kind of a shame, because David Thompson looks a _lot_ like the Scarecrow does in many of his comic book appearances, but he doesn't look enough like Tahan to "really" replace him. For instance, at one point they had to replace the actress for Lady Firefly, and a few episodes later the original actress came back, and they looked alike enough that _LOTS_ of people didn't even notice that it was someone different. Anyway, rant over, keep up the good work!
This problem isn't really exclusive to Scarecrow. As far as I know, Two-Face has never been the main villain in any popular adaptation. You could pretty much swap him out in Batman Forever as well. For me, the real problem w/ Scarecrow is the fear toxin itself. His plots are literally the same things over and over: trying to spread his chemical all over Gotham. Isn't there an episode of the Gotham series that focuses on his father kidnapping people and subjecting them to their own phobias? Like drowning a person who's afraid of the water? IMO, that's way scarier than just giving them hallucinations b/c it's actually happening for real. I say write Scarecrow stories that don't involve toxins, but keep the chemical as his weapon against Batman.
@@kwayneboy1524 Not every writer wants to write about any Batman characters. But what don't you understand? I'm saying that Scarecrow stories are overreliant on his fear toxins and should instead find other ways to make him scary.
I’m reminded of how he showed up in Blackest Night, and how simultaneously hype and underwhelming he was. Scarecrow got a Yellow Lantern Ring, literally the power of fear in the palm of his hand (or on his finger), and the most he does is annoy Spectre a bit before getting dropped from the story.
@@bobjohnson1633 I'm not really sure that's a problem? At least from a storytelling perspective. Having a story where Batman has to deal with Yellow Lantern Scarecrow running amok in the aftermath of Blackest Night would have been really interesting to see. Maybe you could even have a brief alliance with Sinestro, who himself clearly doesn't like Scarecrow for being too difficult to control.
Scarecrow needs to be the main villain in the sequel to The Batman. He needs to be kind of like a serial killer, similar to "The Collector", but terrorize individuals or groups of people around Gotham with his fear toxin. He could be a guy wearing a gas mask but with the fear gas people could see him as a Scarecrow.
I've always thought they should make a horror movie with Scarecrow. They could have his appearance change depending on the person being affected by his fear gas. Someone who's afraid of spiders for example might see him as some unholy man-spider Abomination with mandibles piercing through the mask, four extra arms, and eight black eyes staring into your soul. Someone who's afraid of bats, on the other hand, might see him as something like Man-Bat wearing bits and pieces of the Scarecrow outfit. I also think they should play around with the idea of exposing people to different doses on the fear toxin. A light dosage might just make you see Scarecrow covered in their fear, like in Batman Begins when Rachael sees Crane covered in maggots. A higher dose, everyone around becomes your fear, like the man-spider monster I mentioned. I imagine an extreme dose bringing on something like the Mysterio illusion scene from No Way Home, but made to be frightening with clever horror directing and the main focus being tormenting the character and the viewer of the movie with their fears. One final touch, when people are under the effect of the fear gas, I think it would be cool if you heard Scarecrow's voice echo, but to make it more unsettling, the echoes are different voices than your main actor. Imagine hearing the main actor (MA) speaking and echoing around him are the voices for Arkham Knight (AK) and Injustice 2 (I2). Especially if to add to the creep factor, the main voice changes, too, as if all voices are fighting for the spotlight. For example, Scarecrow starts a villainous monologs and you hear MA with AK and I2 echoing around him. Suddenly, his voice changes, and you primarily hear I2 with MA instead echoing in the background, almost as if the fear toxin makes his voice glitch randomly
this isn't a Scarecrow problem, it's a Joker problem. No one can just leave the Joker out of the game. I say this as a fan of the Riddler, who has more or less the same problem of usually playing second-billing to some other villain.
Very insightful. He does have a lot of unexplored potential. You might want to look at the Fear State arc, presented in the Batman comic earlier this year. I thought it was really well done. And Scarecrow is not only the Big Bad, but he has pawns.
Oh yes the Joker, writer's beloved golden goose. i have simillar apprehension towards it since i personally favour edward nigma as leading antagonist (so long as hes not played by jim fucking carrey). Sufficed to say that most villains from rogues gallery of Bats are suffocating under overwhelming indulgence in joker antics.
I feel sad watching the outro now, but you are right about scarecrow. I believe the only recent stuff was fear state in the comics, but it was because of the joker war.
I'm glad Scarecrow made it to live action movies but what really annoys me of the treatment of this character. He always play a minor villain in this trilogy and he was easily get taken down that fast basically he's Killer Moth in this universe but using fear gimmick. No epic battle with Batman just a taser shock and he's out.
What sucks about most versions of scarecrow is when he's used they don’t make it about him. They make it about Batman overcoming his fears from the fear toxin. It can still be about Batman but the thing is scarecrow has become a secondary villain to his fear toxin. The toxin should be used simply to assist with Batman fighting his fears. They just need to make the scarecrow more the real villain, the scarecrow isn’t his toxin and he shouldn’t be overshadowed by it.
Scarecrow is my favorite Batman villain period, but I agree that most adaptations sideline him over and over. In the Nolan films and the Arkham games he's overshadowed by another villain, and in the animated series he's never given the depth that other villains are, and as you said is used more often as a means to explore the hero's character rather than his own. I understand why that's the case in certain instances, he's inherently one of the more unhinged villains in Batman's rogues gallery, so I couldn't really see him in a scenario like what we see in 'Almost Got 'Im', and I get why Ra's is the final main threat in Batman Begins, but when the third act of your film is 'Batman has to stop fear toxin from spreading across the city' there's something fundamentally wrong with it not being Scarecrow as the central threat in that scenario. I think they maybe could've reworked the last half of that film to where Batman's main goal once he puts on the costume is stopping Scarecrow's operations, we learn more about him and he really feels like the main villain, then Ra's shows up but is more of a background presence, who provided Crane the funding and just let him do all the work and heck, maybe Crane has no idea Ra's was even manipulating him. Sure, he'd still be a pawn to another villain, but at least there'd be more weight carried by his presence and he'd clearly be shown to still be a major threat. Then after Batman stops him, Ra's shows up in a desperate attempt to fulfill his plan, and we get the ending we got in the actual film, only Crane goes back to Arkham. I also think that angle where Crane is given more screen time to flesh out his backstory and is shown to be unknowingly manipulated by Ra's would reinforce the idea the like many of Batman's villains, he's a person that needs help rather than someone for Batman to beat into submission. It's a shame since so many comics have done good things with him, like one where he puts all of Gotham in panic through the threat of his fear toxin, but it turns out he doesn't have any, and he only did it to prove that even without it he's still the master of fear. I do think that it's more 'realistic' that Crane is a disturbed person from an early age, he doesn't really need a sympathetic backstory, but I do love what the New 52 did with his backstory, it's super twisted and tragic.
I remember watching a video from Mr. Rogues, and he had this very good point that whenever Sxarecrow is used, the writers always rely on the fear toxin gimmick. It seems everyone forgets that he's a psychologist and specializes in fear so it would be interesting to see him psychologically manipulate people by playing on their fears. Kind of like Hannibal Lecter I guess. The one time I can actually remember this being used to a degree was in the No Man's Land event. Heck I think it'd be interesting to see him try to manipulate a large portion (not all) of Gotham through propaganda. History has shown that has always been a great use of playing on people's fears and paranoia.
There's this episode of the Superfriends(well, Superpowers team: galactic guardians) called The fear. It was written by Alan Burnett where Scarecrow finds that Batman is scared of the Crime alley. It was written as pilot for a solo Batman series but rejected, so they inserted Wonder Woman to connect the plot with the series. It was the first time I knew the origin of Batman, and the best episode of the whole Superfriends franchise. Also is the only time Batman punches anything, it's a plastic skull, but that's something.
Yeah this is the same problem I had with the end of Batman Ninja where SPOILER Joker usurps Gorrilla Grodd as the big bad at the end. I think the writer's constantly have him one up Scarecrow specifically to go: “Hey look! Joker's so mental that he can even outdue the guy who MAKES you mental. He's just there to make Joker look more badass like that.
Omg thank you. I have been saying for years that my biggest issue since hes my favorite batman villain is either hes used or pushed aside constantly, always denied the main stage. Even arkham knight destroyed what could have been a perfect outing making joker steal the show from him when he was set up to be the main villain. Its infuriating tbh.
Apparently, for The Batman universe, there are going to be a couple spinoff shows. One of them is for scarecrow. I really hope they do him right and actually play with the psychological horror element of this character. He’s not just the mad chemist that can create nightmarish illusions with his fear talk soon, but Dr. Crane can also use his knowledge of the mind to really screw with peoples heads by only speaking words. It’s his own show so he shouldn’t be subservient to anybody. Hopefully we can see how well scarecrow can stand on his own as a threat.
I feel like the idea of a full on Batman horror movie with Scarecrow as the antagonist is way too overlooked. It seems like such an obvious yet perfect use for the character
Henchman Scarecrow didn't bother me in Batman Begins, because he is basically a mad scientist making his first foray into supervillainy; it makes sense that he would be working with a supervillain boss who knew more about organized supercrime, evil schemes, etc. It's really all those other appearances where his place as a henchman or just another villain in the ensemble doesn't really make much sense to me.
The problem with Scarecrow is endemic to Batman in general. No one besides Joker, Ra's Al ghul or (sometimes, rarely) Bane is allowed to have a meaningful impact on Batman or the world. Everyone else touches the Orb of Confusion when they share a story with these characters.
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i think the entire idea of scarecrow being a henchmen goes against his character honestly, his main motivation is research, to study fear and find out what people fear the most, he doesn’t seem to do it for money or any other external factor, it’s just his passion, so maybe he being someones lackey means he gets paid to do so, but he acts more like a lone wolf than anything, it would make more sense for people to hire him as some sort of diversion or bio weapon than anything.
Scarecrow's first comics are some of my favorite, they can be a departure from what we're familiar with as he was gimmicky somewhat but I really liked that.But it also gave insight into Crane.
As with so many things, Batman: TAS has some of the most compelling portrayals of the Scarecrow... The episode where Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is dosed with fear toxin and hallucinates about her father (Jim Gordon) waging war on the Bat-family because of her death is truly great. The episode where Scarecrow is loose beneath Arkham while Batman is confined in Arkham above, suffering from fear toxin induced delusions, is also great.
I think the thing about Scarecrow is that he's an interesting villain _concept,_ but there are few interesting stories done with him. How many Scarecrow stories are just: Scarecrow threatens Gotham with fear gas. Batman fights through his own fears and then Scarecrow gets a dose of his own toxin, getting hoist by his own petard? Oh yeah, there's one other story (done both in the comics and in the Animated Series) where he creates a gas that take fear away, making people reckless. And one comics story where he makes a toxin that makes people _afraid of you_ instead of making _you_ afraid. I think that was done twice, actually. I'd honestly like to see Scarecrow ditch the fear gas and start toying with people through gaslighting and emotional manipulation alone. They did one two-part story along those lines a few years ago, but I'd like to see them go further with it. Develop him into somebody who isn't a one-trick pony.
Scarecrow is One of my Favorite DC Villains that Both Me and My Youngest Sibling Agree and Love,However the Character has been Treated Dirty and Badly by the Writers and the Joker Taking the Show,and what they did on Titans Offense Me,Hope and Pray they do the Master of Fear Justice One Day,Someday.
This video reminds me of something I read about how they were originally going to make a sequel to the Batman and Robin movie with Scarecrow and Man-Bat as the two villains, but with Scarecrow unquestionably as the primary antagonist, subservient to no one. And I heard that Jeff Goldblum was the one considered for the role Just imagine, we could have finally gotten the Scarecrow story the character deserves... as a sequel to the most hated Batman movie of all time.
He is my favorite DC’s villain. From character design to abilities, everything is just… So freaking cool, you know? I hope he gets his own time to shine someday.
Scarecrow is definitely one of the more threatening Bat-rogues, but like you said, his characterization is pretty basic. The thing about him that I find odd is that he seems to be focused on nothing but his research. Like 24/7 he's just thinking about new fear experiments. Doesn't he have any other interests?
The scarecrow had so much missed potential. When I saw Batman begins in the cinemas when it came out, all I had heard was that there was a villain that would make people go insane by terrifying then with hallucinations, then admit them to his mental hospital. That sounded so dark and scary, I couldn’t wait! While I did enjoy the movie I wish they let the scarecrow branch out more, explore the darkness of the topic because that could have made for some really dark scenes that would have elevated the movie a bit.
Woah! Glad to see I’m no the only one rooting for Scarecrow to have his own time in the spotlight. You hit right in the bullseye by saying that Joker’s mere existence endangers Scarecrow (and pretty much any other villain) performance, something that many fans hoped to actually see on Arkham Knight but got a little blue balled in the end
Since you mentioned Tower of Babel in your video for Justice League Doom I was wondering if you have been reading the current Batman run by Chip Zdarsky? It is truly amazing and it acts as a sequel to Tower of Babel by showing Batman's contingency plans for himself in the form of Failsafe.
Well yeah but when Batman told them that the Justice League is his contingency for himself it means Batman changed his mind and he's like "maybe I should make a contingency for myself" I do really like Tim's inclusion in the book as his Robin at the time
“How about a little Fire Scarecrow” Keep the videos up I love you’re content and the down to earth feeling you give off, these videos are great like hearing a friend talk about his favorite stuff!
Very well said! This guy is my favorite Batman villain (tied with with Penguin) and I've been a fan of him since Batman TAS. 'Dream in Darkness' showed me just how much this guy is capable of doing as a villain and the level of threat he posseses. Yet, like you say, people just keep throwing him to the sidelines for the Joker. Another thing that pisses the shit out of me is how the writers always have him be defeated in the same way each time. Batman ALWAYS just sprays him with his own Fear Gas and he curls up into a ball and gives up. I have always thought it would make more sense to have him immune to his own Fear Gas since he is the one making the damn thing in the first place! I really hope someone over at DC understands what they can do with this character, because he deserves so much better than how he has been treated!
Scarecrow is my favourite Batman villain and I agree 100% he is under utilised in stories etc. However, near the start of the video you claim he is not a very formidable foe, but in the lore he actually developed his own martial art style based off of dancing and using his reach advantage caused by his long limbs. A lot of villains have studied and even perfected pre existing martial art styles, but Scarecrow is the only one who comes to mind as having developed his own martial art style. And I t think Cillian Murphy is perfect as the Scarecrow.
The scarecrow is by far in a way top 5 under utilized villains in batmans rogue gallery. You could easily craft something with the same quality as the long Halloween, or under the red hood, using just that character.
Scarecrow gets no love. He has so much potential. There's nothing the Joker could do that would even be as remotely interesting as the possibilities that exist with the Scarecrow.
I just heard of a comic that seems to really utilize him if you're interested. It's an older masterpiece named. The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne," The Brave and the Bold No. 197. He's the central antagonist and they utilize him very well in the plot.
Scarecrow is definitely my favorite Batman villain and I hate how much he gets pushed to the side all the time, he just never gets the chance to shine and show the potential he undoubtedly has. Even something like The Fear State, which was set up as a huge comic arc with Scarecrow as the main villain, falls super flat and doesn't put nearly enough focus on him. He barely gets to do anything in his own comic event! Overall someone please just make a movie with Scarecrow where he gets to shine. Maybe a movie where he acts as a slasher villain who stalks, terrorizes and the murders his victims and sticks their decapitated heads in Jack o lanterns or something cool like that.
They could do a lot with psychological horror, creature horror, slasher horror, so on and so forth. Bits and pieces from most horror subgenres to build Scarecrow up with. Crane is the master of fear and the horror genre isn't just about slasher movies.
Yet another reason the animated series is the greatest interpretation of this mythos ever conceived and realized. It was never afraid to use just one villain and it’s individual villain stories were second to none.
Not even a minute in, just wanna say that you're not alone. He's probably my favorite Batman villain if I'm being honest. I'm excited to see where this one goes.
'He doesn't have the most interesting or sympathetic backstory' What? He was locked away and abused by his father as a child, making him be locked away in the dark, forcing nonstop fear upon him until I think his father died. He was both physically and mentally tortured by his father for ScIeNcE. I feel bad for him due to his obsession for experimenting with fear gas is an attempt to perfect his father's work in hopes to gain approval from him.
He definitely has the potential to be a good foil villain to Batman. Batman purposely strikes fear into the criminals of Gotham. What if Scarecrow gets the idea that he could do that more intensely than Batman ever could. Scarecrow goes on an antihero spree and Batman considers whether his methods are right if a villain uses similar ones or if Scarecrow might be right. Eventually Scarecrow goes too far and Batman has to stop him, but along the way we see Batman show compassion for a misguided henchmen person, but also using a mixture of fear and love to keep another character from doing something wrong or dangerous. Fear has it’s place, helping us to consider the consequences of our actions. Batman should be able to find the balance between cowardice and recklessness as well as between fear based tyranny and compassion based enablement.
Scarecrow is my favourite Batman villian, and like you said in the video I see so much potential there for him but he is continuously underutilised. Although the part when you mentioned he lacked character depth and complexity puzzled me a bit. This doesn't apply for every incarnation of the character, particularly BTAS and the dark knight trilogy but my favourite backstory for scarecrow is the one where his family dies in a fire because he was too scared to warn them in order to save them. He had an interest in fear before the incident but it turns into an obsession to cure fear completely which. The Gotham TV show took this and gave it to Johnathan's father which I wasn't too much of a fan of.
In defense of *Gotham* season 1, they were trying to get Jonathan to be of the same age as Bruce, so his father experimenting on him (like in my favorite origin story of him, *"Batman: Cycle of Violence"* ) was a decent idea. And then in season 4, we got the fantastic episode *"The Fear Reaper"* in which Jonathan truly embraces his new identity, and goes after all those who wronged him... including Jim Gordon, who killed his father. I thought Crane also had potential in *Titans* season 3, but sadly, about 2/3 into that season, he started to fall appart... still worth a watch, IMHO.
Does anyone remember when they announced the One Bad Day comics? Where Batman’s biggest villains like the Riddler and Mr Freeze would get a one shot issue, and for some reason Clayface was part of it? Apparently DC and the writers believe Clayface is a bigger villain than Scarecrow and is on the same level as characters like the Penguin and Ra’s al Ghul.
I'm actually surprised by this and can't help but to agree, especially with Batman Begins onward. I mean, I remember back after Batman & Robin came out, I kept wondering when the next Batman film would be and even tho it wasn't a sequel, rumors for the next film were always "Scarecrow's the villain", heck if they DID a sequel to B&R his toxin woulda saw Batman face a hallucination of Nicholson's Joker; and when Batman Begins came out I was genuinely surprised that while he was A villain, he wasn't THE villain. While in Batman Begins alone, that works but everything after followed suit because apparently nobody takes him as a serious threat.
![[OLD] Batman's Darkest Villain](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/a7uPIp5vXX0/mqdefault.jpg)
The horror elements of scarecrow REALLY need to be explored more in film, there is so much potential
I'd love to see a Joker style origin story for Scarecrow inspired by old school horror films like Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street.
He was a scare beast in the comics at one point
The problem with Scarecrow in Nolan is...Nolan's talent leans on either "filmmaking as brutalist puzzle box" or "filmmaking as topical commentary" or both. Kind of INSANE we never saw him do Riddler. But character psychology? Of the kind deep enough to make a really good story with Scarecrow as the central villain? No. He don't got it. I know he don't got it because of Inception, a take on dreams/mind logic that has shallower character psychology then any of the core Elm Street movies. Even Freddy's Dead would say Inception is psychologically hollow! (Freddy's Dead is a slightly worse movie ("I'll get you my pretty, and your little soul too!" Groan.), but that's one problem it doesn't have.)
I hope he becomes the main villain of the batman 2 instead of the joker or at in the third installment of it if we ever get that if that doesn't happen give the character his own animated movie like they did with two face
I think that most Batman villains fall into this category of having a good concept or a single good story, then never going anywhere. Bane will always be breaking Batman's back (or referencing that he will) Freeze will always be trying to save Nora. And Jervis will always be looking for Alice. I mean Hush hasn't done anything interesting since his debut.
I'd argue that, on the contrary, the best Hush stories came out *after* his debut. "Heart of Hush", "Hush Money", "House of Hush", "Gates of Gotham" , etc... the first "Hush" was good, but I suppose people expect so much of it, they'll almost have to be disappointed.
When I read it, it was just another 'Tec/Batman mini-series, I had no expectations, so I had a good time...
But had it been hyped to death beforehand, I might have been underwhelmed.
i was surprised that in the animated series batman beat Bane so easily
I’ve always had a concept for Mad Hatter, think I could make him really scary and full of depth, without going into grimdark pedo territory Grant Morrison or other writers take, or a complete reinvention like Gotham.
Arkham Hush had potential as far as I'm aware. I'm not very familiar with the comics, especially hush stories, but Eliot in the arkham games recreated his face to become Bruce and they never really went anywhere with it. Even in Knight he shows up for 5 minutes and the ending doesn't even really resolve anything
Elliot was a bad and contrived character from the get go.
I never really understood why he’s not used as the mastermind character more often. With his intelligence and knowledge of psychology he should easily be able to manipulate most of the rogue gallery into serving him.
I always felt him and Ivy having a rivarly would bd cool. In Harley Quin show he would be a great foil to her. He is a coward but he is not a moron. You can make a good villain of that
He can it's just he cares more about making people scared in most shows and stuff
@@tfordham13 right but my point is, why is he a minion all the time when really he should be the big bad mastermind.
@@basiosrasian225 becuase dc thinks he's too scary for his own movie
I think the issue is how similar he is to Joker.
I think scarecrow's legacy can be summed up by the fact that he's in all the Nolan films but is barley in any of them. He's a character that's often present but is never the main threat.
Eyy Vee Infuso has bots now, he's officially made it as a youtuber.
He's extremely minor in the two sequels but was a big part of Begins, even if he wasn't the main villan.
I really loved him in Arkham Knight
@@kicapanmanis1060eh he doesn't need to have bigger roles in the trilogy after begins
Words cannot describe how happy I am to see more and more people coming around on the, "Scarecrow deserves better train." I anxiously await Matt Reeves' take on the character and hope that he finally gives Dr. Crane his day to shine.
Holy shit, Matt Reeves take on Scarecrow would actually be insane
I'm crossing my fingers!
I believe the villains for the sequel to The Batman are planned to be Penguin and Mr. Freeze (not sure how they're gonna pull of Freeze tbh lol)
@@bathumb45 Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Reeves inserted just a bit of comic book logic into these movies. People would suspend their disbelief enough for a freeze gun if the movie is good. Also Scarecrow is apparently getting a spin off show like Penguin with Matt at the helm.
Ever since I played Arkham Asylum I've been of the opinion that Scarecrow is on the same tier as the Joker. Not in popularity but in terms of complexity and the ability to push Batman to the brink of insanity.
I think the worst part about Scarecrow in Begins before he's taken out is at that point, Crane had FULLY become Scarecrow and even got that menacing looking horse. Yet one taser shock and he's done with. But like you said, it was nice to see him back in The Dark Knight and Rises, even if it was minor.
To be fair she shot him in the face with it right? He’s only a guy wearing a cloth mask.
Scarecrow's defeat in that movie was one of the worst villain defeats in anything ever,confused me as a kid.
@@justinarzola4584Yeah, I always found it funny how he began screaming as Goofy
I've always said if there was no Joker, Scarecrow would be Batman's archenemy.
I think that's a very keen point
Ong
aside from the knight he was the main villain in arkham knight. you're goddamn right he would be.
Two face and bane:
@@mr.monkey354 two-face i sort of doubt, but bane literally had gotham on lockdown in rises, so thats not even opinionated.
Honestly, I wish Christopher Nolan would show more of Scarecrow, and especially the battle between him and Batman. The way he got defeated just felt anti-climatic, removed all the tension I had and made him more of a joke than an actual threat.
I know, the two moments between Scarecrow and Batman were gold. it felt like a buld up to an awesome conflict. the dialogue and lines were just gold
"oh having trouble? Take a seat. Have a drink. You look like a man who takes himself to seriusly. You want my opionion? Ya need to lighten up" - scarecrow. ---bars
but then Bats comes with "Taste of your own medicine doctor?---thats good but its
unfortuantly beaten with "doctor crane is int here right now, but if you'd like to make an appointment
I mean, Christopher Nolan’s done making Batman films - unless you know something i don’t? I’m assuming you’re referring to the beginning of The Dark Knight? The Scarecrow scene was a plot device, meant to show how good Batman had become at taking down criminals, his armor’s weaknesses (dogs, mobility) and to give the Russian’s sufficient motivation to take Bruce down - i.e., a reason to ally with the Joker.
@@darkservantofheaven Where did you come from?
He had the perfect actor for him too
That's because he didn't want to do the supernatural shit
Personally, I actually liked that Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow was in each of Nolan's Batman movies. He did unfortunately get defeated rather unceremoniously in the first movie---but at least he got to enjoy being a supporting antagonist for way longer than everyone else did at being a *normal* antagonist. He had longevity and experienced all the highs and lows Gotham went through.
BB: Manipulates those manipulating the system. Scary guy but easily defeated and a smaller fish in the grand scheme of things.
TDK: Sells his nightmare gas as a street drug after Batman has destroyed most other sources of illicit substances.
TDKR: Arguably his most shining moment, if short, as the hostage Gothamites make him a "judge" in their renegade society after Bane destroys the bridges and threatens to nuke the city leaving them without a government. He would sentence people to walk across a deadly unstable frozen river.
Scarecrow needs to be the main villain of a batman movie! He deserves it! I'm looking at you Matt Reeves!
I totally agree.
I think they have menu they are thinking Mr freeze as a main villain I keep hereing that around and I'm not sure where scarecrow fits in a story about Mr freeze because Mr freeze motivations are alot more sympathetic,personal and straight forward I'm not sure where he would fit there but I'd like to see scarecrow done again but done well
I just hope Joker won't be a part of that scheme, but judging by the ending scenes it looks like that won't be the case unfortunately..
@@Carolean_Vergil He for sure won’t be the main villain of The Batman 2 at least
I really hope if it ever happens that Reeves takes a page out of Spider-Man: Far From Home and does a scene similar to the illusion scene after Batman inhaled the fear toxin. That could lead to incredible visuals and exploration of Batman's psyche.
Totally agree. I adored Cillian Murphy's performance as Crane in Batman Begins. He's a criminally underused character. I'd love a horror movie with Crane as the main character.
Despite Scarecrow being the main antagonist in Arkham Knight, I still feel like he's been underutilized. Like we haven't seen the character at his fullest in being a psychologically dangerous foe.
Also yeah in the first Lego Batman video game Scarecrow serves as one of Joker's lieutenants which foreshadowed what he becomes in other media. The Joker's unofficial best friend 😅
Right? All he does is gas people lol. Anyone can throw fear toxin at people.
Tbh I think Arkham Knight comes _close_ but Gotham being empty of normal people for gameplay reasons nerfs him. You know what would have nailed it perfectly? Similar plot, but rather than an evacuation, Scarecrow teamed up with the Mad Hatter to use nanomachines in the water to mind control everyone in Gotham to fear and hate Batman. After that, pretty much everything going the same with him using the situation as cover for the cloudburst fear toxin stuff. Rather than an endless string of goons, the random basic enemies are the men and women of Gotham City. A city of Batman's fear realized.
Even Arkham Knight underutilized him. Felt like he was side lined by Joker and Jason.
The thing is in Arkham Knight, the game seemed more focused on making Jason Todd the main threat than Scarecrow, despite Scarecrow being the one that basically forced Gotham to evacuate
I think the issue with Arkham Knight is just that it isn’t written very well written. Scarecrow was just a classic evil mastermind villain with a nasty appearance and a sadism streak, with a fear obsession.
He didn’t have any sort of mania to him like he did in Arkham Asylum, didn’t feel as much like a crazed force of nature that reflects fear itself. He should be smart but he needs to have character.
fun faction
The actor who plays the Scarecrow in the Dark Knight Trilogy, Cillian Murphy was one of Christopher Nolon's initial choices for Bruce Wayne. He once stated he got lost in his blue eyes, that it scared him
Yeah Cillian Murphy is a Nolan favorite, if I'm not mistaken, he's starring in Nolan's upcoming Oppenheimer
Nolan actually knew Murphy wasn’t getting the Batman role, he just brought him back to audition to convince people that he can be scarecrowz
Scarecrow would be great in the Batman 2 or Robbert Patterinsons series since were dealing with a batman series which is more horror esque and we have too many Jokers so testing batman resolve would be a great way to make Scarecrow a more menacing precence.
Yeah, you bring up a good point about there being too many jokers and in my opinion too many mainstream villains(popular villains). Like I feel like Batman vs Lady Shiva or Deadshot or Deathstroke would be fire.
Yeah for the love of god I really don’t want to see another joker especially if he’s the joker we saw in the deleted scene, just looked like a contrived version of heath ledgers
I was inspired by a video series i wat che'd long ago. However I love batman horror elements and since its getting confusing with Jared and Pheonix it's appropriate to give someone else a try against the bat.
I definitely always felt there was more potential with Scarecrow as the big bad solo villain. Imagine a Batman film that’s a horror movie because of Scarecrow and his fear toxin. Imagine a scene like the one in Spider-man: Far From Home when Spider-man is dealing with Mysterio and his illusions imagine that scene with Batman but with more horrific imagery. That would make a pretty compelling film if you ask me.
Scarecrow is truly incredible especially when handled properly. I love that one makes him one of the greatest Batman villains of all time is that they both utilize fear as a weapon so that they may never again experience the fear they felt when they were at their most vulnerable. I really recommend checking out Year One: Batman/Scarecrow which shows how he was abused and tormented by his grandmother and family as well as his own descent into madness during his formative years. His New 52 origin is also great.
❤❤❤
Scarecrow is my all-time top villain, his costumes, his voice, his power, it's all so cool to me. Yet we rarely see him in a cool position or given respect. His best version in modern times was Arkham Knight, and even then he was just a side chick at the end. I'm kinda hoping Matt Reeves puts him into The Batman so we can get a real Scarecrow
If you havent, you should read “Batman: Fear State”. In that, he is the big puppet master and nearly succeds in his plot to use the whole of Gotham in his twisted Fear experiment.
I've read it and thought it was underwhelming, so I suppose it comes down to personal taste. He didn't physically show up that much.
If we have to see Scarecrow relegated to more villain team ups, I would love to see him and Mad Hatter work together. Both of them mirror Batman’s use of fear and psychology, and together they’d pose a very fascinating threat to him.
They worked together in Gotham, Lego Batman: The Videogame and The Long Halloween (The comic and movie), pretty good team tbh
He could also make a good team with Hugo Strange if they explore their roles in Arkham Asylum.
Thank you so much for expressing exactly how I’ve felt about Scarecrow for years now. Scarecrow is my absolute favourite villain from all comics, in my opinion, he trumps Joker, Lex Luthor, Doctor Octopus, Loki, everyone (from the comics). I agree that his actual character isn’t very deep but that should be a writer’s dream, that gives more opportunity to create something great with the character. You can show how Crane works outside of being Scarecrow, how his obsession with people’s fear stops him from building any connections with anyone since his interests only lie in what keeps them up at night. This can apply to villains he works for, nobody takes him seriously since all he goes on about is fear so he feels like a joke among the other Batman rouges. If the character is all about delving into other people’s psyche then why not have a story where we delve into his own, what does the Master of Fear fear? This came across more as a pitch than a praise for your video but the point stands, a lack of character should be seen as potential greatness, not another background character to fill out the villain quota
Have u read Batman Fear State or nah
@@Junya01 nah, is it a good Scarecrow comic?
I think people really love putting Scarecrow and Joker together because of their conflicting 'interests'. Fear vs laughter. There are a lot of Joker appearances without Scarecrow so that isn't really a problem when it comes to Joker but it is a shame for Scarecrow cause he really never gets to shine on his own.
Oh yeah 'How about a little fire Scarecrow?', makes me think that Firefly would have a field day with him (pun intended)
I think another reason why Joker doesn't really like Scarecrow is because Joker wants everybody to be more afraid of HIM. He always wants to be on center stage.
100% agree. Scarecrow has some of the best actors bring him to life only to be a glorified henchman. Shame cuz he’s such a cool character with SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Give my man Crane the spotlight he deserves.
I think the scarecrow’s issue is that the fear toxin overtakes too much of the character, becoming a plot device. You spray the toxin and all the focus is really on the fear or psychological issues of the character themself. At best he might use it on a security guard or mook who writhes screaming on the floor, while he steals a thing or whatever. At worst we get the same plot beats in every single scarecrow story: hero gets sprayed with fear, deals with fear, hero no longer affected by fear gas because Le Will Power
What would help more is if scarecrows obsession with fear extended beyond just spilling Spooky Juice. He’s a twisted researcher, he should be coming up with new formulas, or nothing even to do with the toxin, abusing subjects just for whatever he considers a good experiment based on fear. Or just trying to spread fear without it. What if he became fixated on another villain, like joker or two face and trying to see what their fear is? Batman TAS did some pretty good episodes by having different twists on the formula, like removing all fear rather than giving it. I think the idea of a villain who seems out research would give a very different spin on an antagonist, as someone doing bad things to people but purely out of a interest in experimenting, devoid of humanity
If you want a good take on the scarecrow, I recommend the recently released second season of Batman: the audio adventures. His voice actor does such a good job, and his schemes, mannerisms and way of speaking constitute a slightly different, but nonetheless great take on the character. He’s also acting as a free agent rather than working for someone else, which is a big plus
Also he met Bruce Wayne and batman
In the audio adventure did penguin and two face work together
I enjoyed the audio adventures. They were fun.
“the man’s no fighter”
Scarecrow (who is proficient in Violent Dancing which is based partly on Crane style Kung Fu): am I a joke to you?
I totally agree! Scarecrow needs more love!
Great video, as always! Just wanted to point out a small detail...
>"In the TV series *Gotham* , Scarecrow is pretty prevalent in the final 2 seasons of the show, but it's also during that he's led by Joker stand-ins Jérôme & Jeremiah Valeska"
Well, _akchtually_ , Scarecrow was in only 1 episode of season 5, in which he's leading his own gang, and isn't working for Jeremiah or anybody else...
And in season 4, he starts with an awesome 2-episodes mini-arc in which he's the Big Bad, and isn't working for Jérôme (Pax Penguina & the Fear Reaper)
Then in the third episode, he indeed creates an alliance with Jérome and the Mad Hatter, and from there on he pretty much works under Jérôme.
But Scarecrow never works with Jeremiah...
It's interesting to note that the main reason Jonathan Crane took such a backseat compared to his first appearances (in which he frequently removed his mask), was because his actor, Charlie Tahan, had to leave *Gotham* since he had landed an important role on *Ozark* (a really good show)...
He was replaced by David W Thompson, and in this incarnation, the one working under Jérôme, his face is never seen again, for continuity's sake... which is kind of a shame, because David Thompson looks a _lot_ like the Scarecrow does in many of his comic book appearances, but he doesn't look enough like Tahan to "really" replace him.
For instance, at one point they had to replace the actress for Lady Firefly, and a few episodes later the original actress came back, and they looked alike enough that _LOTS_ of people didn't even notice that it was someone different.
Anyway, rant over, keep up the good work!
I liked the show but it has its flaws
This problem isn't really exclusive to Scarecrow. As far as I know, Two-Face has never been the main villain in any popular adaptation. You could pretty much swap him out in Batman Forever as well. For me, the real problem w/ Scarecrow is the fear toxin itself. His plots are literally the same things over and over: trying to spread his chemical all over Gotham. Isn't there an episode of the Gotham series that focuses on his father kidnapping people and subjecting them to their own phobias? Like drowning a person who's afraid of the water? IMO, that's way scarier than just giving them hallucinations b/c it's actually happening for real. I say write Scarecrow stories that don't involve toxins, but keep the chemical as his weapon against Batman.
I guess not every writer wants to write about crane but I don't understand your logic on the last part.
@@kwayneboy1524 Not every writer wants to write about any Batman characters. But what don't you understand? I'm saying that Scarecrow stories are overreliant on his fear toxins and should instead find other ways to make him scary.
I’m reminded of how he showed up in Blackest Night, and how simultaneously hype and underwhelming he was. Scarecrow got a Yellow Lantern Ring, literally the power of fear in the palm of his hand (or on his finger), and the most he does is annoy Spectre a bit before getting dropped from the story.
I agree. This is the ONLY time Scarecrow has vast potential and was disregarded. I was extremely disappointed with this waste.
The problem is that he would have been extremely powerful
@@bobjohnson1633 I'm not really sure that's a problem? At least from a storytelling perspective. Having a story where Batman has to deal with Yellow Lantern Scarecrow running amok in the aftermath of Blackest Night would have been really interesting to see. Maybe you could even have a brief alliance with Sinestro, who himself clearly doesn't like Scarecrow for being too difficult to control.
To him the world is just a giant experiment not caring which of his subjects die cause he’ll always get more which is Terrifying.
Scarecrow needs to be the main villain in the sequel to The Batman. He needs to be kind of like a serial killer, similar to "The Collector", but terrorize individuals or groups of people around Gotham with his fear toxin. He could be a guy wearing a gas mask but with the fear gas people could see him as a Scarecrow.
I've always thought they should make a horror movie with Scarecrow. They could have his appearance change depending on the person being affected by his fear gas. Someone who's afraid of spiders for example might see him as some unholy man-spider Abomination with mandibles piercing through the mask, four extra arms, and eight black eyes staring into your soul. Someone who's afraid of bats, on the other hand, might see him as something like Man-Bat wearing bits and pieces of the Scarecrow outfit.
I also think they should play around with the idea of exposing people to different doses on the fear toxin. A light dosage might just make you see Scarecrow covered in their fear, like in Batman Begins when Rachael sees Crane covered in maggots. A higher dose, everyone around becomes your fear, like the man-spider monster I mentioned. I imagine an extreme dose bringing on something like the Mysterio illusion scene from No Way Home, but made to be frightening with clever horror directing and the main focus being tormenting the character and the viewer of the movie with their fears.
One final touch, when people are under the effect of the fear gas, I think it would be cool if you heard Scarecrow's voice echo, but to make it more unsettling, the echoes are different voices than your main actor. Imagine hearing the main actor (MA) speaking and echoing around him are the voices for Arkham Knight (AK) and Injustice 2 (I2). Especially if to add to the creep factor, the main voice changes, too, as if all voices are fighting for the spotlight. For example, Scarecrow starts a villainous monologs and you hear MA with AK and I2 echoing around him. Suddenly, his voice changes, and you primarily hear I2 with MA instead echoing in the background, almost as if the fear toxin makes his voice glitch randomly
this isn't a Scarecrow problem, it's a Joker problem.
No one can just leave the Joker out of the game.
I say this as a fan of the Riddler, who has more or less the same problem of usually playing second-billing to some other villain.
Very insightful. He does have a lot of unexplored potential. You might want to look at the Fear State arc, presented in the Batman comic earlier this year. I thought it was really well done. And Scarecrow is not only the Big Bad, but he has pawns.
They should’ve just given scarecrow a cool hat tbh
Weirdly the most protagonism - except BTAS and BTAA - he had was in a SCOOBY DOO CARTOON. That's sad.
Oh yes the Joker, writer's beloved golden goose.
i have simillar apprehension towards it since i personally favour edward nigma as leading antagonist (so long as hes not played by jim fucking carrey).
Sufficed to say that most villains from rogues gallery of Bats are suffocating under overwhelming indulgence in joker antics.
My father always liked Scarecrow . . . Dad was a research psychologist.
You make a good point. He really has become in relation to Batman what Shocker is to Spider-Man
I feel sad watching the outro now, but you are right about scarecrow. I believe the only recent stuff was fear state in the comics, but it was because of the joker war.
I'm glad Scarecrow made it to live action movies but what really annoys me of the treatment of this character. He always play a minor villain in this trilogy and he was easily get taken down that fast basically he's Killer Moth in this universe but using fear gimmick. No epic battle with Batman just a taser shock and he's out.
What sucks about most versions of scarecrow is when he's used they don’t make it about him. They make it about Batman overcoming his fears from the fear toxin. It can still be about Batman but the thing is scarecrow has become a secondary villain to his fear toxin. The toxin should be used simply to assist with Batman fighting his fears. They just need to make the scarecrow more the real villain, the scarecrow isn’t his toxin and he shouldn’t be overshadowed by it.
Scarecrow is my favorite Batman villain period, but I agree that most adaptations sideline him over and over.
In the Nolan films and the Arkham games he's overshadowed by another villain, and in the animated series he's never given the depth that other villains are, and as you said is used more often as a means to explore the hero's character rather than his own. I understand why that's the case in certain instances, he's inherently one of the more unhinged villains in Batman's rogues gallery, so I couldn't really see him in a scenario like what we see in 'Almost Got 'Im', and I get why Ra's is the final main threat in Batman Begins, but when the third act of your film is 'Batman has to stop fear toxin from spreading across the city' there's something fundamentally wrong with it not being Scarecrow as the central threat in that scenario.
I think they maybe could've reworked the last half of that film to where Batman's main goal once he puts on the costume is stopping Scarecrow's operations, we learn more about him and he really feels like the main villain, then Ra's shows up but is more of a background presence, who provided Crane the funding and just let him do all the work and heck, maybe Crane has no idea Ra's was even manipulating him. Sure, he'd still be a pawn to another villain, but at least there'd be more weight carried by his presence and he'd clearly be shown to still be a major threat. Then after Batman stops him, Ra's shows up in a desperate attempt to fulfill his plan, and we get the ending we got in the actual film, only Crane goes back to Arkham. I also think that angle where Crane is given more screen time to flesh out his backstory and is shown to be unknowingly manipulated by Ra's would reinforce the idea the like many of Batman's villains, he's a person that needs help rather than someone for Batman to beat into submission.
It's a shame since so many comics have done good things with him, like one where he puts all of Gotham in panic through the threat of his fear toxin, but it turns out he doesn't have any, and he only did it to prove that even without it he's still the master of fear. I do think that it's more 'realistic' that Crane is a disturbed person from an early age, he doesn't really need a sympathetic backstory, but I do love what the New 52 did with his backstory, it's super twisted and tragic.
I remember watching a video from Mr. Rogues, and he had this very good point that whenever Sxarecrow is used, the writers always rely on the fear toxin gimmick. It seems everyone forgets that he's a psychologist and specializes in fear so it would be interesting to see him psychologically manipulate people by playing on their fears. Kind of like Hannibal Lecter I guess. The one time I can actually remember this being used to a degree was in the No Man's Land event. Heck I think it'd be interesting to see him try to manipulate a large portion (not all) of Gotham through propaganda. History has shown that has always been a great use of playing on people's fears and paranoia.
There's this episode of the Superfriends(well, Superpowers team: galactic guardians) called The fear. It was written by Alan Burnett where Scarecrow finds that Batman is scared of the Crime alley. It was written as pilot for a solo Batman series but rejected, so they inserted Wonder Woman to connect the plot with the series. It was the first time I knew the origin of Batman, and the best episode of the whole Superfriends franchise. Also is the only time Batman punches anything, it's a plastic skull, but that's something.
Yeah this is the same problem I had with the end of Batman Ninja where SPOILER Joker usurps Gorrilla Grodd as the big bad at the end. I think the writer's constantly have him one up Scarecrow specifically to go: “Hey look! Joker's so mental that he can even outdue the guy who MAKES you mental. He's just there to make Joker look more badass like that.
Omg thank you. I have been saying for years that my biggest issue since hes my favorite batman villain is either hes used or pushed aside constantly, always denied the main stage. Even arkham knight destroyed what could have been a perfect outing making joker steal the show from him when he was set up to be the main villain. Its infuriating tbh.
Apparently, for The Batman universe, there are going to be a couple spinoff shows. One of them is for scarecrow. I really hope they do him right and actually play with the psychological horror element of this character. He’s not just the mad chemist that can create nightmarish illusions with his fear talk soon, but Dr. Crane can also use his knowledge of the mind to really screw with peoples heads by only speaking words.
It’s his own show so he shouldn’t be subservient to anybody. Hopefully we can see how well scarecrow can stand on his own as a threat.
I feel like the idea of a full on Batman horror movie with Scarecrow as the antagonist is way too overlooked. It seems like such an obvious yet perfect use for the character
Scarecrow constantly has basically same treatment as Black Mask
I honestly feel sorry for the guy
I hope they finally give Scarecrow justice in the batman 2! With Madd Hatter and Mr. Freeze too!
Scare crow would definitely make an incredible main antagonist
Henchman Scarecrow didn't bother me in Batman Begins, because he is basically a mad scientist making his first foray into supervillainy; it makes sense that he would be working with a supervillain boss who knew more about organized supercrime, evil schemes, etc. It's really all those other appearances where his place as a henchman or just another villain in the ensemble doesn't really make much sense to me.
The problem with Scarecrow is endemic to Batman in general. No one besides Joker, Ra's Al ghul or (sometimes, rarely) Bane is allowed to have a meaningful impact on Batman or the world. Everyone else touches the Orb of Confusion when they share a story with these characters.
I think batman begins scarecrow was a good pick for the villain as if worked well with the movie's theme of fear and coming over it
Whenever I'm at work and there's a new vee it's a great day. When I started this job I discovered vee. Doing erything in a hotel is hand in hand with vee. Vee were going to "fix" the pool.
i think the entire idea of scarecrow being a henchmen goes against his character honestly, his main motivation is research, to study fear and find out what people fear the most, he doesn’t seem to do it for money or any other external factor, it’s just his passion, so maybe he being someones lackey means he gets paid to do so, but he acts more like a lone wolf than anything, it would make more sense for people to hire him as some sort of diversion or bio weapon than anything.
I love the Scarecrow he’s one of my favorite villains
Scarecrow is my 2nd favorite batman villain, the 1rst being clayface. So its nice to hear someone give him the respect he deserves
Scarecrow's first comics are some of my favorite, they can be a departure from what we're familiar with as he was gimmicky somewhat but I really liked that.But it also gave insight into Crane.
As with so many things, Batman: TAS has some of the most compelling portrayals of the Scarecrow... The episode where Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is dosed with fear toxin and hallucinates about her father (Jim Gordon) waging war on the Bat-family because of her death is truly great. The episode where Scarecrow is loose beneath Arkham while Batman is confined in Arkham above, suffering from fear toxin induced delusions, is also great.
I think the thing about Scarecrow is that he's an interesting villain _concept,_ but there are few interesting stories done with him.
How many Scarecrow stories are just: Scarecrow threatens Gotham with fear gas. Batman fights through his own fears and then Scarecrow gets a dose of his own toxin, getting hoist by his own petard?
Oh yeah, there's one other story (done both in the comics and in the Animated Series) where he creates a gas that take fear away, making people reckless. And one comics story where he makes a toxin that makes people _afraid of you_ instead of making _you_ afraid. I think that was done twice, actually.
I'd honestly like to see Scarecrow ditch the fear gas and start toying with people through gaslighting and emotional manipulation alone. They did one two-part story along those lines a few years ago, but I'd like to see them go further with it. Develop him into somebody who isn't a one-trick pony.
One of my favorite villains, rarely ever done well, ya knocked this one clear out the ballpark Vee. Great vid
He is a great villain that should be more focus on in Batman story's
Scarecrow is One of my Favorite DC Villains that Both Me and My Youngest Sibling Agree and Love,However the Character has been Treated Dirty and Badly by the Writers and the Joker Taking the Show,and what they did on Titans Offense Me,Hope and Pray they do the Master of Fear Justice One Day,Someday.
This video reminds me of something I read about how they were originally going to make a sequel to the Batman and Robin movie with Scarecrow and Man-Bat as the two villains, but with Scarecrow unquestionably as the primary antagonist, subservient to no one. And I heard that Jeff Goldblum was the one considered for the role
Just imagine, we could have finally gotten the Scarecrow story the character deserves... as a sequel to the most hated Batman movie of all time.
He is my favorite DC’s villain. From character design to abilities, everything is just… So freaking cool, you know? I hope he gets his own time to shine someday.
Scarecrow is definitely one of the more threatening Bat-rogues, but like you said, his characterization is pretty basic. The thing about him that I find odd is that he seems to be focused on nothing but his research. Like 24/7 he's just thinking about new fear experiments. Doesn't he have any other interests?
Even in Titans season 3 where he IS the big bad pulling the strings, he still ends up taking a back seat to Red Hood
The only villain in all 3 movies and he was still underutilized. That’s a shame.
Probably my favorite Batman villain scarecrow and Batman both use fear and that why I like the character.
The scarecrow had so much missed potential. When I saw Batman begins in the cinemas when it came out, all I had heard was that there was a villain that would make people go insane by terrifying then with hallucinations, then admit them to his mental hospital. That sounded so dark and scary, I couldn’t wait! While I did enjoy the movie I wish they let the scarecrow branch out more, explore the darkness of the topic because that could have made for some really dark scenes that would have elevated the movie a bit.
Woah! Glad to see I’m no the only one rooting for Scarecrow to have his own time in the spotlight.
You hit right in the bullseye by saying that Joker’s mere existence endangers Scarecrow (and pretty much any other villain) performance, something that many fans hoped to actually see on Arkham Knight but got a little blue balled in the end
I kind of liked how he was portrayed in Titans last season when he was Jason Todd's puppet master.
I was sad when Scarecrow was offed in the Harley Quinn show, he had such a great design and personality.
Since you mentioned Tower of Babel in your video for Justice League Doom I was wondering if you have been reading the current Batman run by Chip Zdarsky? It is truly amazing and it acts as a sequel to Tower of Babel by showing Batman's contingency plans for himself in the form of Failsafe.
Well yeah but when Batman told them that the Justice League is his contingency for himself it means Batman changed his mind and he's like "maybe I should make a contingency for myself" I do really like Tim's inclusion in the book as his Robin at the time
Nothing like another large batman event featuring cool things like batman falling from the moon to the earth
Chip Zdarsky's 10 issue mini-series *Batman: The Knight* , which ended a couple months ago, was also fantastic. Definitely recommended!
“How about a little Fire Scarecrow” Keep the videos up I love you’re content and the down to earth feeling you give off, these videos are great like hearing a friend talk about his favorite stuff!
Very well said! This guy is my favorite Batman villain (tied with with Penguin) and I've been a fan of him since Batman TAS. 'Dream in Darkness' showed me just how much this guy is capable of doing as a villain and the level of threat he posseses. Yet, like you say, people just keep throwing him to the sidelines for the Joker. Another thing that pisses the shit out of me is how the writers always have him be defeated in the same way each time. Batman ALWAYS just sprays him with his own Fear Gas and he curls up into a ball and gives up. I have always thought it would make more sense to have him immune to his own Fear Gas since he is the one making the damn thing in the first place! I really hope someone over at DC understands what they can do with this character, because he deserves so much better than how he has been treated!
Scarecrow is my favourite Batman villain and I agree 100% he is under utilised in stories etc. However, near the start of the video you claim he is not a very formidable foe, but in the lore he actually developed his own martial art style based off of dancing and using his reach advantage caused by his long limbs. A lot of villains have studied and even perfected pre existing martial art styles, but Scarecrow is the only one who comes to mind as having developed his own martial art style. And I t think Cillian Murphy is perfect as the Scarecrow.
He truly is underated
Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Been saying this for years
Just imagine a scarecrow solo movie :0
The scarecrow is by far in a way top 5 under utilized villains in batmans rogue gallery. You could easily craft something with the same quality as the long Halloween, or under the red hood, using just that character.
4:56 The Lego Batman Movie is literally a parody of Batman media, so I don’t dock points for having all the villains as Joker’s underlings.
The sales of joker being added to stories is an issue. They use him as a crutch.
Scarecrow gets no love. He has so much potential. There's nothing the Joker could do that would even be as remotely interesting as the possibilities that exist with the Scarecrow.
I just heard of a comic that seems to really utilize him if you're interested. It's an older masterpiece named.
The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne," The Brave and the Bold No. 197.
He's the central antagonist and they utilize him very well in the plot.
The Scarecrow in Arkham Asylum voiced by Dino Andrade is the DEFINITIVE version. They need to utilize that character design and that voice more.
Scarecrow is definitely my favorite Batman villain and I hate how much he gets pushed to the side all the time, he just never gets the chance to shine and show the potential he undoubtedly has. Even something like The Fear State, which was set up as a huge comic arc with Scarecrow as the main villain, falls super flat and doesn't put nearly enough focus on him. He barely gets to do anything in his own comic event! Overall someone please just make a movie with Scarecrow where he gets to shine. Maybe a movie where he acts as a slasher villain who stalks, terrorizes and the murders his victims and sticks their decapitated heads in Jack o lanterns or something cool like that.
They could do a lot with psychological horror, creature horror, slasher horror, so on and so forth. Bits and pieces from most horror subgenres to build Scarecrow up with. Crane is the master of fear and the horror genre isn't just about slasher movies.
Yet another reason the animated series is the greatest interpretation of this mythos ever conceived and realized. It was never afraid to use just one villain and it’s individual villain stories were second to none.
Not even a minute in, just wanna say that you're not alone. He's probably my favorite Batman villain if I'm being honest. I'm excited to see where this one goes.
Okay, I kinda knew where this one was going... but the Joker thing is something I didn't realize until now
A scarecrow video. Let's go!!!!!
'He doesn't have the most interesting or sympathetic backstory'
What? He was locked away and abused by his father as a child, making him be locked away in the dark, forcing nonstop fear upon him until I think his father died. He was both physically and mentally tortured by his father for ScIeNcE. I feel bad for him due to his obsession for experimenting with fear gas is an attempt to perfect his father's work in hopes to gain approval from him.
If we ever get scarecrow in a live action role I hope they make the movie like a horror movie and focus on scarecrow alot.
He definitely has the potential to be a good foil villain to Batman. Batman purposely strikes fear into the criminals of Gotham. What if Scarecrow gets the idea that he could do that more intensely than Batman ever could. Scarecrow goes on an antihero spree and Batman considers whether his methods are right if a villain uses similar ones or if Scarecrow might be right. Eventually Scarecrow goes too far and Batman has to stop him, but along the way we see Batman show compassion for a misguided henchmen person, but also using a mixture of fear and love to keep another character from doing something wrong or dangerous. Fear has it’s place, helping us to consider the consequences of our actions. Batman should be able to find the balance between cowardice and recklessness as well as between fear based tyranny and compassion based enablement.
"How about a little fire, Scarecrow?"
Scarecrow is my favourite Batman villian, and like you said in the video I see so much potential there for him but he is continuously underutilised. Although the part when you mentioned he lacked character depth and complexity puzzled me a bit. This doesn't apply for every incarnation of the character, particularly BTAS and the dark knight trilogy but my favourite backstory for scarecrow is the one where his family dies in a fire because he was too scared to warn them in order to save them. He had an interest in fear before the incident but it turns into an obsession to cure fear completely which. The Gotham TV show took this and gave it to Johnathan's father which I wasn't too much of a fan of.
In defense of *Gotham* season 1, they were trying to get Jonathan to be of the same age as Bruce, so his father experimenting on him (like in my favorite origin story of him, *"Batman: Cycle of Violence"* ) was a decent idea.
And then in season 4, we got the fantastic episode *"The Fear Reaper"* in which Jonathan truly embraces his new identity, and goes after all those who wronged him... including Jim Gordon, who killed his father.
I thought Crane also had potential in *Titans* season 3, but sadly, about 2/3 into that season, he started to fall appart... still worth a watch, IMHO.
I think some of the parts Scarecrow did in Dark Knight Rises are a spot Joker would have done if Heath Ledger didn’t die.
Does anyone remember when they announced the One Bad Day comics? Where Batman’s biggest villains like the Riddler and Mr Freeze would get a one shot issue, and for some reason Clayface was part of it? Apparently DC and the writers believe Clayface is a bigger villain than Scarecrow and is on the same level as characters like the Penguin and Ra’s al Ghul.
I'm actually surprised by this and can't help but to agree, especially with Batman Begins onward. I mean, I remember back after Batman & Robin came out, I kept wondering when the next Batman film would be and even tho it wasn't a sequel, rumors for the next film were always "Scarecrow's the villain", heck if they DID a sequel to B&R his toxin woulda saw Batman face a hallucination of Nicholson's Joker; and when Batman Begins came out I was genuinely surprised that while he was A villain, he wasn't THE villain. While in Batman Begins alone, that works but everything after followed suit because apparently nobody takes him as a serious threat.