Two of the most talked about episodes of the first season of Fox's Gotham were "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" and "The Scarecrow," thanks to the introduction of the origin story for popular Batman villain The Scarecrow.
However, it wasn't just young Jonathan Crane viewers found themselves interested in during those episodes. We also met Jonathan's father, Gerald, who proved that he might be even crazier than his son, although the older Crane's intentions were a little better: he wanted to take fear away from the world, thinking that it's a fault of human evolution that he must resolve. His son, on the other hand, ends up terrorizing others by using their fears against them.
Now, we know that there's a chance we'll see Dr. Gerald Crane again, thanks to a recent interview with Julian Sands, the actor who portrayed the character.
"A sticky end ain't necessarily a sticky end," said Sands to Digital Spy. "I had a very good time working on Gotham and it's not inconceivable that Dr Crane will be seen again!"
In his drive to remove fear from the world, he injects his son with a fear-protecting toxin that drives Jonathan crazy. Although the series teased many other back stories on Batman villains, we see more of what makes Jonathan a future villain than perhaps any other on the series.
However, viewers found the older Crane appealing, too, and part of that has everything to do with Sands' portrayal of him. The actor took the role seriously.
"I'd seen the first couple of episodes," says Sands. "It would've been easy to do a slight, comical and campy adaptation of the prequel to the Batman myth, but I was mighty impressed by the credibility of the dramatic content."
In the comics, The Scarecrow first takes on his role as a terrifying Batman villain after being bullied and spurned by a cheerleader. It could be interesting to see something similar happen to the boy now that he's been injected by his father's fear drugs, making for a similar, but perhaps more interesting origin story for the character.
Seeing the older Crane return for this story could also provide a fascinating back story, because the older Crane is responsible for his son doing exactly the opposite of what he'd dedicated his life to do doing: removing the fears of others.
Gotham returns tonight on Fox.
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