Robin Williams To Play Dr. Hugo Strange In Dark Knight Rises?

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society.
(Image credit: Touchstone Pictures)

Well, this is certainly out of left field. If you were expecting the Dark Knight Rises rumors to end now that we’ve finally started getting a real cast, you apparently don’t know how the internet works. This evening the web has been aflutter with rumors that Robin Williams will play Dr. Hugo Strange. It all seems to stem from a tweet by Batman On Film, but as Caped Crusader sources go, they’re among the most trustworthy.

You may remember ages ago, Williams came within a hair of landing the coveted Joker role in Tim Burton’s Batman, but it was not to be. Still, after all those years, the longing hasn’t quite died. The comedian who’s arguably better in his dramatic roles openly said last year that he’d work on The Dark Knight Rises in a second, but up until now, his words seemed more like longing than real casting news.

I’m not completely sold. Thus far, there’s been no confirmation from Williams, the studio or Christopher Nolan; so, even as much as I trust Batman On Film, I must recommend you take this purely as a rumor for the time being. What a glorious rumor it is though. For those of you unfamiliar with Gotham, Dr. Hugo Strange is a Batman-obsessed villain psychologist with more than a few screws loose. Williams has not only won an Academy Award for playing a shrink but has also crushed all of his creepy psychopath roles in the past.

Expect the actual facts on this within a few days.

Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.