Scarecrow returning?

Several sources are reporting that The Dark Knight Rises will have Cillian Murphy reprising his role from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as Dr. Jonathan Crane a.k.a. The Scarecrow.

The first claim comes from Superherohype member Magnusrex:

"Cillian Murphy is returning in TDKR. You can see him at Union Station in Los Angeles, but at least that's where I saw him earlier on my way back home from taking spy photos."

"I couldn't take a picture of him because there are a ton of security guards, but he's definitely there."

"You can take this as 100% legit fact."

"Scarecrow is in TDKR."

"He was wearing a black robe, probably to disguise his suit underneath."


Is this The Scarecrow?

The next is an excerpt from a very detailed scene description posted over at the The Dark Knight Rises' Facebook page. Apparently the scene takes place at Union Station and involves a Judge of some kind handing down sentences to various "criminals". Bane is mentioned, as is Harvey Dent although the context is unclear. At one point Jim Gordon and Miranda Tate are brought before him and he asks them to choose "death or exile".

"It appears that exile means walking a dangerous frozen river on the outskirts of Gotham. Which would coincide with the LA River scene filmed with Gordon and his men tip toeing awkwardly in the leaked video."


"Oh P.S."

"Judge's identity: JONATHAN FUCKIN' CRANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Cillian Murphy is back with a bang!"

It was reported on The Dark Knight Rises' Facebook page earlier that Murphy is currently on set.

Crane was a major villain in Batman Begins. A respected doctor at Arkham Asylum, he abused his position by filling Gotham's water supply with a deadly toxin. Set up as the main villain, Crane was revealed to be a henchman of Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson). He took part in the attack on the Narrows Island, but disappeared after being tasered by Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes). He appeared again in The Dark Knight, but was busted by Batman (Christian Bale) in one of the early scenes.

Murphy also starred in Christopher Nolan's Inception with his Batman co-stars Ken Watanabe (decoy Ra's al Ghul), Tom Hardy (Bane), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake), Marion Cotillard (Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul) and Sir Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth).

He auditioned for the part of Batman, but lost out to Christian Bale. However, Nolan liked Murphy's audition so much that he cast him as The Scarecrow. He did get to wear the Batsuit during his audition.

In 2009, he expressed a desire for a third Batman film:

"The Dark Knight is one of the greatest blockbuster mainstream movies. If anyone can match that or top that it’s Chris. Fingers crossed."