You May Have Heard Of 'Gotham's Dr. Crane Before

Uh-oh. Just when it seems like Gotham City couldn't be saturated with any more bad guys, yet another one turns up. The new Feb. 2 episode of Gotham introduces "The Fearsome Dr. Crane," as the title suggests. And, even though Gerald Crane is a doctor, he doesn't seem all to interested in helping out the citizens of Gotham. In the episode, Jim and Bullock start an investigation on a killer who targets people with severe phobias, and I'd bet Dr. Crane is directly involved in that plot. So, just who is Gotham 's Doctor Crane?

The name "Dr. Crane" could be familiar, even for those who aren't big comic book fans. So might the name of the actor who's playing Dr. Crane. He's Julian Sands, and this isn't his first run at a comic-related role. On Smallville, he played Jor-El, Superman's biological, Kryptonian father. More recently, he was William Jagger on Crossbones and Priest on Banshee. So he pretty much stays within sci-fi/comics/genre geek roles.

Sands has played his fair share of villains, too, like Russian separatist Vladimir Bierko on 24. So, is Dr. Crane more of a Jor-El, or is he more of a Bierko type? I think you can probably guess. Here, some things to know about Dr. Gerald Crane.

He's Jonathan Crane's Father

If the name "Dr. Crane" sounds familiar in a Batman context, you're probably thinking of Jonathan Crane, aka, the man who becomes the Scarecrow, known even to casual fans as one of the major villains in Batman Begins. The Scarecrow is great because 1) he actually makes an appearance in all three Christopher Nolan Batman movies (you can't keep a scarecrow down), and 2) he's played by Cillian Murphy, who is high on my personal list of backup husbands. Gerald Crane is Scarecrow's father, so maybe, in these next couple of Gotham episodes, you'll see what drives a man to grow up, put a burlap sack over his head, and start dousing people with hallucinogens.

He's Also A Villain In His Own Right

I guess one reason to put a burlap sack over your head and start drugging people is if you had a crazy father to lead you by example. Gerald Crane is that psycho example for his son. According to Tech Times — and this might spoil some things for the next episode of Gotham — the elder Dr. Crane is "a biology-teacher-turned-murderer who harvests the organs of his victims." Unsavory!

A Twist On The Comics

In some versions of the comics, Gerald Crane takes off before Jonathan is even born. It'll be interesting to see how Gotham portrays the father/son relationship between the two of them, considering the apple doesn't fall far from the homicidal tree.

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