Summary
- Batman Begins' biggest theme involved the idea of fear and how it could be manipulated and controlled through Batman and the Scarecrow.
- Scarecrow's fear toxin captured the terror in a person's greatest fear, including its creator.
- While not explicitly shown, Scarecrow's greatest fear, and ability to overcome it, turned him into a formidable and unpredictable enemy.
Before Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan helped define the summer box office with Oppenheimer, the two collaborated on many films before. Perhaps their best-known previous collaboration came in Batman Begins, where Murphy played Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Both Batman and Scarecrow are avatars of fear, but when gassed with his own toxin in Batman Begins, what was it that Crane feared most?
For a time in the mid-20th Century, Batman was cast as the Bright Knight, both in the comics and in the 1966 television series Batman. Adam West played the Caped Crusader not as a symbol of fear, vengeance or the night, but as a costumed hero who could face down equally costumed villains. Christopher Nolan's take on the Gotham mythos was one steeped in grounded reality, at least as much as this story can be. Crane was introduced as a psychologist in the pocket of the Falcone organized crime family. However, his true master was the one pulling the strings throughout the film. The League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul, wanted to destroy Gotham City as it had other powerful metropolises throughout history. Jonathan Crane's fear toxin was the way they were going to do that. By awakening the greatest fears of its citizens, the people of Gotham would tear the city down without the members of the League of Shadows lifting a finger. However, when Batman dosed Scarecrow with the fear toxin, Jonathan Crane's greatest fear isn't as obvious as it might seem.
How the Scarecrow's Fear Toxin Worked
Batman got his first taste of the fear toxin long before he met the Scarecrow while training in the mountaintop temple somewhere near Bhutan. The source was a flower with hallucinogenic properties. The point of this lesson was for Bruce Wayne to learn to suppress his fear and do the job he was trained for: killing. Yet, Batman (usually) doesn't kill people intentionally. The next time he was hit with the toxin came when he confronted Crane.
Yet, Scarecrow wasn't using the fear toxin just to keep his enemies at bay. It was meant for the entire city. Using a stolen piece of Wayne Enterprises technology, the League of Shadows planned to vaporize the Gotham City water supply, which had been laced with the toxin. Harmless in liquid form, when aerosolized, the people of the Narrows were overcome with fear. They saw visions, including Batman as a demonic figure flying overhead.
So, while the toxin was meant to show people their greatest fears, it also took whatever was happening and made it as scary as possible for the beholder. It's possible that Jonathan Crane was a true believer in the League of Shadows' mission at first. However, he likely went along with their plot - - beyond having no choice, really - -in order to conduct his twisted experiments. Gotham city may have fallen as a result of exposure to the toxin, but in his creepy Scarecrow mask, Jonathan Crane would be able to collect "data" on citizens' fear response.
The Dark Knight Wasn't the Scarecrow's Greatest Fear In Batman Begins
The scene in which Rachel Dawes is gassed by Scarecrow follows her discovery of his forces dumping the toxin into the city's water supply. Just before Batman arrives, Crane takes off his mask and seems to express glee that "the Batman" has finally arrived. His henchmen seemed afraid, talking about the inhuman nature of Gotham's new vigilante, but Crane just seemed intrigued. He had already beaten Batman with his toxin once, so there was no reason for him to believe he wouldn't again. This time, however, Batman was ready for him, giving him a (literal) taste of his own "medicine."
As Batman interrogates Crane, the already frightening vigilante takes on a more terrifying visage. This doesn't mean that Crane was terrified of a giant bat who was also a man. Interestingly, Batman doesn't really look like a bat after the gas but rather looks a bit like a demon. Ra's al Ghul is called "the Demon's Head," and Batman was clearly using techniques popularized by the League of Shadows. What Crane saw (surprisingly, a practical costume) was just the gas reframing what was in front of his face. Batman did not actually scare him at all. The Scarecrow's greatest fear in Batman Begins was Ra's al Ghul.
Throughout Batman Begins Crane refers to the man he works for as a cudgel against Carmine Falcone. When the freshly-gassed Crane sees Batman as the coal-faced demon, he says, "Ra's al Ghul." Sure, he might be just answering Batman's question. But he might just be naming what he thinks he sees. Like Bruce, Crane probably met the Demon's Head under his alias of Ducard. What made Ra's powerful, however, was his legend. Being forced to face his fear is what turned mild-mannered Dr. Jonathan Crane into the frenetic and villainous Scarecrow.
How Batman and Scarecrow Both Overcame Their Greatest Fears
Bruce Wayne's greatest fear in Batman Begins was bats. Since criminals are a cowardly lot, Bruce took on the mantle of his greatest fear to intimidate them. Crane also had a mask, which served a much more practical purpose. It contained a mechanism preventing him from inhaling his own toxin. After being dosed with the gas and seeing Batman or Ra's or whatever that monster was, the mask meant something different.
When Rachel sees him later in the Narrows, he identifies himself as Scarecrow. As he said when Batman questioned him, Dr. Crane isn't there right now. It also didn't help when Rachel shot a taser into his mask while he wore it, electrifying him. Audiences, unfortunately, don't see that much of Scarecrow in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Yet, they can infer that Crane eventually got over his fears.
In his mind, Batman killed the Demon, and Batman was a guy in a mask, just like him. It's why the last thing he says to Batman in his "diagnosis" is that the man behind the mask needs therapy. In Batman Begins, he actively resists the Caped Crusader. He lights him on fire when they first meet. He even tried to punch him at Arkham just before getting dosed with his own fear toxin. By the time of The Dark Knight, he has made peace with his new mental state. Scarecrow isn't terrified of Batman anymore. He is just afraid enough to know that when Batman shows up, the only sane choice is to flee.