Gotham Has Recast the Scarecrow

As Fox’s Gotham continues collecting early versions of Batman rogues gallery members, it’s hard not to notice that some of their faces have changed over the seasons. While the most notable swapped player has been Poison Ivy, whose third actress iteration on the series, Peyton List, is about to debut upon its midseason return, another major swap is on the horizon for the one and only Scarecrow.

The role on Gotham of Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. the Scarecrow, has been recast with actor David W. Thompson, reports TV Line. The character was played by Charlie Tahan (pictured below), who debuted – in nascent form – back in Season 1, Episode 14, “The Fearsome Dr. Crane.” However, while Tahan reprised the role – in full Scarecrow persona and regalia – in the first two episodes of the current, hiatus-docked, Season 4, his commitment to the recently-renewed Netflix crime drama, Ozark, will reportedly prevent him from further playing the role. Thompson will reportedly debut as Crane/Scarecrow in an episode that airs this spring.

Tahan’s loss will be the gain of David W. Thompson, whose countenance bears an astounding resemblance to the way the character is traditionally depicted in the pages of DC comics. Thompson comes into the role off a run on comedy series Rhinebrook, film roles in 2017 crime thriller New Money, 2017 comedy The Outcasts and – opposite Patrick Stewart – 2015 neo-Nazi crime drama Green Room, with notable TV guest spots on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Boardwalk Empire.

On Gotham, the Jonathan Crane character started as an innocent tragedy-addled youth whose chronic fears led to his scientist father injecting him with a formula designed as a cure. However, it only facilitated his sinister obsession with fear and, armed with a weaponized version of the fear formula, led to his transformation into the Scarecrow, an A-list villain from the pages of Batman comics who was famously played by Cillian Murphy on the big screen in The Dark Knight Trilogy. While Tahan’s Season 4 reprisal of the role seemed to showcase the character’s full villainous metamorphosis, it will be interesting to see what Thompson brings to the table.

Gotham will return from its Season 4 midseason hiatus on Fox on Thursday, March 1 at 8/7c.