Jonathon Crane, a.k.a. the Scarecrow, has always been just out of reach of mega-popularity. He's one of the Batman fanbase's most beloved characters, but for more casual fans, Scarecrow has always been somewhat obscure. The character's appearances in Christopher Nolan's trilogy were great, but always overshadowed by other villains. The recent Batman: Arkham video games have been better to the character, but Scarecrow was again overshadowed by more popular rogues. Crane seems so close to being a hugely popular character - he just needs a chance.

Gotham, at this point, is one big tease. It's great seeing younger versions of soon-to-be heroes and villainss, but the story leading up to their transformations is still vague at best. It makes for great TV, and the formula continues to work for the show. On top of everything, Gotham hasn't been afraid to make changes to classic characters, and while most of these have been subtle, the newest change could be huge.

While speaking with Zap2It, executive producer Danny Cannon confirmed that the Scarecrow would be making his way to Gotham, just not in the form fans are used to seeing. While Jonathon Crane will indeed make an appearance, his father will debut as the first Scarecrow and adversary of Jim Gordon. Cannon explained that Jonathon will inherit the role of Scarecrow from his father, though when and how this will happen is still a mystery.

Scarecrow joins Gotham's ever-expanding roster of future villains. Harvey Dent's first appearance was recently confirmed, as was the Joker's. Crane is the newest villain to make the cut, albeit in a much different form.

There are lots of interesting possibilities that come with introducing the Scarecrow to Gotham's world. Relatively speaking, the villain's fear-inducing gas is much more realistically grounded than Batman's other foes, and it's entirely possible that the gas could make it onto Gotham unchanged. Both Batman Begins and Batman: Arkham Asylum presented the effects of the fear gas in unique ways, and with any luck, Gotham will continue the trend.

Other than the confirmation, there's not much information on Scarecrow's debut just yet. The first season of Gotham was previously extended to a full 22 episodes, meaning that there's plenty of time to introduce the villain. However, the 10th episode of the season is titled 'Lovecraft.' Given author H.P. Lovecraft's ties to both horror and insanity in literature, it seems that the episode could be a perfect fit for Crane's introduction.

It's entirely possibly that fans only have a few weeks left until one of Batman's best villains makes his debut.