Batman Begins: Gary Oldman suspects Christopher Nolan wanted him to play Scarecrow

Gary Oldman may be unhappy with his performance in the Harry Potter franchise, but he’s also very grateful that he got to work on both that franchise and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, as they allowed him to spend more time with his family. As he put it, being cast in those films meant he could “do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids.” Oldman played Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises… but he suspects that Nolan originally envisioned him playing a different character in the trilogy. The villainous Scarecrow.

During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Oldman was asked about the rumor that Nolan had wanted him to play Ra’s al Ghul, the villain who ended up being played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins. Oldman replied (with thanks to SuperHeroHype for the transcription), “I got a feeling it was Scarecrow. That was about the time when I was sort of thinking I’ve had enough of [playing villains]. I think it was my manager who suggested to Chris, ‘What about Jim Gordon?’ And, to his credit, Chris went, ‘Hm, that’s interesting.’ We met and that’s how it sort of came about. But I think it might be Scarecrow.“

The role of Scarecrow, a.k.a. Jonathan Crane, ultimately went to Nolan’s future Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy. If Oldman had been cast as that character, it still could have given him the chance to appear in all three movies, as Scarecrow went on to make cameo appearances in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. In Batman Begins, Scarecrow is working with Ra’s al Ghul, plotting a scheme that involves pumping a toxin into the Gotham City water supply. He remains at large at the end of that film and returns to get apprehended in The Dark Knight. In The Dark Knight Rises, he gets busted out of Blackgate Prison by Bane and gets to preside over a kangaroo court where he decides punishments for high status Gotham residents.

Everything worked out very well… but what do you think of the idea of Gary Oldman playing Scarecrow? Would you like to see what that performance would have been like? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.