Professor Hugo Strange

Hugo Strange was one of Batman's first adversaries, having been around even longer than the Joker has. He doesn't really have any specific theatrical gimmicks like most of Batman's villains do. You can read about story lines he is known for on his wikipedia page if you'd like. The character has appeared in several animated shows, like Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, and The Batman. When Tom Hardy was cast in The Dark Knight Rises, it was rumored or speculated that he would play Hugo Strange. Around that time, the character's popularity had just spiked due to his inclusion in the then forthcoming video game Batman: Arkham City, the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum. Obviously we now know that Hardy was cast as Bane instead.

I've seen a lot of ideas from fans about who they would like to see play the role of Hugo Strange in a Christopher Nolan Batman movie, including Robin Williams, but I think the best person for the job is Kelsey Grammer.

It is perhaps typecasting, but in my opinion, he has the presence, the intellect, the intensity, and the right kind of voice for the character. I could picture him with the bald head, the glasses, and the distinctive beard, and he doesn't look too silly to me to fit in with the style of Nolan's world. When I was searching for a photo of Kelsey Grammer to post here, I actually found a picture of him with a beard that looks exactly like a perfect Hugo Strange beard!

Despite his silly name, I think Professor Strange is one of the characters who would fit right into Nolan's Gotham City. I imagine him as a brilliant professor of criminal psychology at Gotham University who uses rather unorthodox or possibly unethical techniques to try and understand the mind of a criminal. He would probably be consulted by the police to find out Batman's secret identity, and in the process would become more and more obsessed with Batman, to the point of going crazy and wanting to actually be Batman.