Joel Schumacher Wanted This Hollywood Heavyweight As Scarecrow For Batman & Robin Sequel

"Batman & Robin" was so panned for its campiness that Warner Bros. had no choice but to pivot to a dark and gritty reboot, resulting in Christopher Nolan's acclaimed "Dark Knight" trilogy. This is filmmaking mythology almost as well-known as Batman's own origin of alleyway orphaning. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige even calls "Batman & Robin" one of the most important superhero movies, for it taught studios that fans wouldn't settle for schlock. In hindsight, it's almost unbelievable that "Batman & Robin" and "Batman Begins" premiered only eight years apart; the Dark Knight's fall didn't last long!

There were abandoned plans for director Joel Schumacher to make a third Batman film, though. "Batman Unchained," to be penned by Mark Protosevich (rather than previous screenwriter Akiva Goldsman) was supposedly going to be "darker." The villains would've been Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow and Harley Quinn, which makes sense. At the time, Scarecrow was the most perennial Batman villain who hadn't made it to the movies yet, and Harley Quinn was already an unexpected sensation after her debut in "Batman: The Animated Series."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Schumacher envisioned "Unchained" as the more psychological "Batman" film he'd wanted to make with his previous two. Scarecrow and Harley (the latter reimagined as the Joker's vengeful daughter) would team up to play on Batman's fears and drive him to insanity. Schumacher wanted the villains of the previous films, including Jack Nicholson as the Joker, to make cameos as apparitions haunting Batman (presumably created by the Scarecrow's fear toxin).

Not a bad pitch! I'd even bet good money that Scarecrow being in "Batman Begins" (played by Cillian Murphy) is a holdover from him being left on the docket for "Unchained." While the movie was canceled before casting began, rumors of unrealized choices have long circled the internet. Protosevich said that Courtney Love may have been interested in playing Harley. As for the devious Professor Crane, Schumacher told IndieWire in 2011 that he offered the part to Nicolas Cage while the actor was shooting "Face/Off." The Schumacher Batman movies had a bad habit of casting movie stars just to get movie stars in the picture, with no regard for how they fit their characters. (See: George Clooney as Batman, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, etc.) Cage absolutely could've done Scarecrow, though. He gives his performances manic energy that's perfect for a comic book villain. Plus, he's a bona-fide comic book fanboy, so I'm sure he'd give it his all in a "Batman" film.

While Schumacher preferred Cage, many other faces have been rumored to have been up for Scarecrow. Coolio, who cameoed as a biker in "Batman & Robin," told the Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that Warner Bros. wanted him as the Scarecrow in the next film. (He also claims he and Schumacher didn't get along on set, so the casting may never have worked). Yeah ... I'm not seeing it.

Shortly before the release of "Batman & Robin" in 1997, radio host Howard Stern was rumored to be on the shortlist to play Scarecrow in the already-planned sequel. Stern denied this and expressed disinterest; he would only appear in a darker Batman movie unlike Schumacher's, he said on air.

There have also been rumors that, before Tim Burton left the "Batman" franchise, he wanted Brad Dourif to play the Scarecrow in his third film. That sounds perfect (Dourif has the right sinister aura and lithe frame for Crane), but alas, Dourif confirmed in 2018 that he never had any such conversations with Burton.

In 2021, "Batman" screenwriter Sam Hamm wrote "Batman '89," a comic mini-series (drawn by Joe Quinones) picking up where Burton's "Batman Returns" left off. Hamm is currently writing "Batman '89: Echoes," a sequel comic that quite resembles Schumacher's "Unchained" pitch. The comic is set mostly in Arkham Asylum with Tim Burton-styled Scarecrow and Harley Quinn as the villains. "Echoes" Scarecrow is modeled on Jeff Goldblum. That's a pretty good fit, but it seems that Hamm and Quinones "cast" the part themselves, not because that casting could've really happened.

One actor overlooked in this contention would be Jeffrey Combs, who voiced the Scarecrow on "Batman: The Animated Series." Combs, who replaced original actor Henry Polic II, was chosen for his raspy whisper of a voice. Still, he'd previously played eccentric mad scientist Herbert West in "Re-Animator." I can easily see him channeling that performance into a live-action Scarecrow.

Scarecrow is one of Batman's creepiest villains, a part perfect for an actor to go big but get under your skin too. As Matt Reeves and James Gunn build their respective Batman-inspired universes on film, neither should forget about ol' Johnny Crane.