20 Things You Didn't Know About Batman Begins

The studio may have been gunning for Ashton Kutcher to play Batman but Christopher Nolan wanted Cillian Murphy. Although he didn't get the part, Nolan couldn't let Murphy go and decided to cast him as the antagonist, Johnathan Crane AKA The Scarecrow.

In the comics, the Scarecrow wears a ragged hat, a sack mask, and a burlap outfit fitted in straw. He usually fights his nemesis with farm utensils like a sickle and pitchfork. Since Nolan wanted this film to be grounded in reality, he knew Scarecrow's style from the comics would jar with the tone. Instead, Crane simply wears withered mask and relies on his Fear Toxin as his primary weapon.

But if it was purely up to Nolan, Crane would have had no mask whatsoever. Nolan found Murphy's bright, blue eyes so mesmerising, he didn't want to cover them behind a mask. (He had the exact same problem with Tom Hardy wearing a mask in The Dark Knight Rises.) The screenwriter, David S. Goyer, managed to convinced Nolan to change his mind. This seemed like a wise decision as it would have been odd for a supervillain called The Scarecrow to look like... a guy... with a suit.