It’s time for Titans fans to face their fears as the HBO Max series has found its Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow. Overnight, DC Comics has confirmed that former Mad Men and Angel actor Vincent Kartheiser has joined the cast.
Little is known about the story of the upcoming third season. We do know that it will see Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) and his team of young heroes make their way to Gotham City where they’ll tangle with one of Batman’s most terrifying foes—the Scarecrow.
The streets are never safe from the Prince of Panic … even if he is locked away in Arkham 😳. Please welcome Vincent Kartheiser as Dr. Jonathan Crane! #DCTitans pic.twitter.com/8RrMsJSChM
— DC Titans (@DCTitans) April 28, 2021
While the Scarecrow has appeared often in animation and video games, he’s really only been brought to life twice before in live action—in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and on TV’s Gotham. The character does, however, seem to be experiencing something of a renaissance right now. Scarecrow’s fear toxin has played a key role this season on Batwoman (though the character himself has not appeared) and he’s currently the primary villain in the ongoing Batman comic. While we don’t yet know how Titans’ take on Jonathan Crane will compare to some of these others, considering the HBO Max series isn’t afraid of getting dark, it’s not hard to imagine the show’s version being our most frightening live action Scarecrow to date.
Scarecrow will mark Kartheiser’s first role as a comic book character, though the actor has a long career in film and TV that includes noteworthy roles in genre favorites like Angel, The OA and Das Boot. He’s best known, however, for playing Mad Men’s ambitious young advertising agent, Pete Campbell—a role he embodied for seven seasons to much acclaim.
Jonathan Crane is one of several well-known super-villains who will appear in Titans’ third season, and it’s currently unclear how the various villains will intersect or which, if any, will prove to be the season’s main adversary. Along with Kartheiser’s Scarecrow, season three will also see the return (after a brief season 2 cameo) of Damaris Lewis’ Blackfire and Curran Walters’ debut as Red Hood.
Titans stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Anna Diop as Starfire, Teagan Croft as Raven, Ryan Potter as Beast Boy, Alan Ritchson as Hawk, Minka Kelly as Dove, Curran Walters as Jason Todd/Robin and Joshua Orpin as Conner Kent/Superboy.
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