14 DAY TRIAL // Chris Nolan has long confirmed “Batman 3,” now with the official title of “The Dark Knight Rises,” but details on the villain are yet to be unveiled. The latest buzz has it that British actor Tom Hardy will be playing Dr. Hugo Strange.
As Screen Crave also points out, rumors about the upcoming installment in the popular franchise are too many to count, with the only constant appearing to be the fact that Tom Hardy will also have a part in it.
Many believe he will be playing the lead villain, mostly thanks to having already proved he can carry a villain role perfectly (with his critically acclaimed “Bronson”) and also due to the fact that he’s already worked with Nolan on “Inception.”
A new report suggests Hardy may play Dr. Hugo Strange, a character familiar only to fans of the comic strips, since he appears before known villains like Catwoman and The Joker.
“If Hugo Strange doesn’t sound familiar to you it’s because he’s one of Batman’s older enemies. His appearance in the comic books precedes that of Catwoman and The Joker,” Screen Crave explains.
“Strange’s name is self-explanatory of his behavior. The character is a mad scientist who’s obsessed with Batman and his civilian alter ego Bruce Wayne. The good doctor knows of Batman’s secret identity but he keeps that information to himself,” the same e-zine notes.
“Strange has appeared in various incarnations in the comics and on ‘Batman: The Animated Series,’ ‘The Justice League,’ and ‘The Batman.’ The folks over at Batman News seem to think that Hardy will bring the doctor to the big screen in The Dark Knight Rises,” SC says.
Though billed as just a rumor for the time being, Hardy playing Dr. Strange may actually turn out to be true, the e-zine further notes.
This tidbit comes from the same source that also revealed that The Riddler wouldn’t be in the third film (which turned out to be true), and that Rachel Weisz and Anne Hathaway were in the running for the female lead (which, again, turned out to be accurate).