Was the Scarecrow originally meant to appear in The Penguin? The series production designer addresses a recently spotted Easter egg that went viral.
With The Penguin now officially over, fans have been going over the series once more with a fine tooth comb to see if anything was missed by the community the first time through. Perhaps the most surprising discovery was an Easter egg hidden in plain sight. During the flashback episode on Arkham, what appears to be the glove and mask of Scarecrow can be seen on the desk of Theo Rossi’s Julian Rush.
This Easter egg isn’t the first time that Scarecrow has been connected to The Penguin. A video by pop culture Youtuber BobaTalks nearly a year ago spoke about the villain’s potential appearance in the series. A source allegedly told the influencer that Theo Rossi was originally meant to play Jonathan Crane in the early stages of production. However, as production continued on, the concept was scrapped and the role was morphed into that of Julian Rush.
The Penguin Production Designer Responds To Scarecrow Speculation
These revelations went so viral over the weekend that they actually reached the desk of The Penguin‘s production designer Kalina Ivanov. She was asked in the comments of the recent Instagram post if there was any truth to the idea that Theo Rossi was originally meant to play Scarecrow in the series, or that perhaps Julian Rush was some sort of cover. The designer kept her answer rather coy, admitting that the interpretation isn’t set in stone.
“We left it open for interpretation.” Ivanov wrote in a comment. “The hands are from Bali.”
Given The Penguin went out of its way to not include any other Batman villains in the series, it would make sense that any ties Theo Rossi’s character had to Scarecrow would be scrubbed for the final product. However, it’s entirely possible that Julian Rush eventually evolves into Jonathan Crane in a future installment of the franchise, especially as all signs point to the trilogy serving as an origin story to Batman and his biggest villains.
The Penguin is now streaming on HBO. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe and make sure to stay tuned to our YouTube channel for more content.
