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The Penguin Episode 2: Who is Julian Rush, a potential Batman villain?

The second season of The Penguin is in full swing and today, after a long wait, we got to see the second episode of this series. Episode 2 of The Penguin begins with a rather creepy sequence in which Sofia dreams or hallucinates about her brother's death. She sees herself in Arkham Asylum again, which at first seems like a flashback, but turns out to be a dream or hallucination when her brother shows up. As it turns out, Sofia was in a therapy session with a doctor named Julian Rush, played by Theo Rossi. Let's find out who Julian Rush is, the Batman villain who may star in Episode 2 of The Penguin.

Is Julian Rush a Batman villain?

Julian Rush appears to be a new and original character created for The Penguin series. There is no such character in DC Comics and therefore Julian Rush is not one of the Batman villains. This is the first time we see this character on stage, and in the official casting announcement it was mentioned that he will be Sofia Falcone's lover. However, some fans have certain theories regarding his identity and one in particular stands out. So let's take a look.

Julian Rush could be a name-swapped scarecrow in Penguin

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery

One of the DC villains who bears a strong resemblance to Julian Rush from The Penguin is Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow. Jonathan Crane is a perverted psychologist known for conducting experiments on the inmates of Arkham Asylum and gradually driving the inmates insane with his fear gas. Now that we've given you that description, let's take a look at Julian Rush.

When we're introduced, he's giving Sofia unconventional therapy by using a red light. We see Sofia in a trance-like state where she is scared and losing her mind as she hallucinates about her worst fear, the death of her brother, which is quite similar to the effect Jonathan Crane has on people. There's a chance that if Edward Nygma becomes Edward Nashton and Oswald Cobblepot becomes Ozwald Cobb in The Batman Crime Saga, it's not entirely unlikely that they'll change the name for Scarecrow. However, this is just a theory and only time will tell us how true it is.

Theo Rossi plays Julain Rush in The Penguin.

The Penguin Episode 2: Who is Julian Rush, a potential Batman villain?
Image source: Instagram/theorossi

Julian Rush is played by Theo Rossi in The Penguin. His character is still fairly unexplored, as he only appears in the very first minutes of Episode 2, “The Penguin.” Therefore, we cannot say what important role he will play in the course of this series. Theo Rossi is known for his role as Juan Carlos “Juice” Ortiz in the popular TV show “Sons of Anarchy.”