Gotham is adding yet another villain to its increasingly stacked lineup with the casting of B.D. Wong as the evil psychiatrist Doctor Hugo Strange. Wong is mainly known for playing more altruistic characters like Father Ray on Oz, profiler Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: SVU and of course the upbeat gene-splicer Dr. Henry Wu in Jurassic Park. Lately, though, Wong’s been exploring darker shades – his Dr. Wu character took a turn for the sinister in Jurassic World, and he plays the leader of a dangerous hacker group in Mr. Robot. It will be interesting to see if he can go full supervillain in upcoming episodes of Gotham.
Of course, it may take a while to get there. According to Fox, Hugo Strange will be introduced as the new head of Arkham Asylum, and initially he “appears altruistic, but he harbors a dark secret [that will transform him into] Gotham’s greatest threat.” It’s heavily speculated Strange will be revealed to be the main hand behind the mysterious Indian Hill facility we’ve glimpsed in recent episodes. Without giving too much away, Fox says the Indian Hill facility is a Wayne Enterprises black-ops program “dedicated to creating the ultimate super human… or supervillain.” I have a sneaky feeling it might end up being the latter.
Hugo Strange makes perfect sense for Gotham as he’s one of Batman’s earliest enemies, predating better-known rogues like The Joker, Penguin and Riddler. Most early Strange stories revolved around him creating genetic “monster men” that end up wreaking havoc on Gotham, which sounds like what may be happening at Indian Hill. In later incarnations, Strange also became obsessed with the psychology of Batman and rooting out his secret identity, which is a good fit for a show all about Bruce Wayne’s journey to becoming Batman.
Gotham should pull a total Gotham and have Hugo Strange wear the Bat-costume before Bruce Wayne.
What are your thoughts on Strange joining the Gotham rogues gallery? Think B.D. Wong is the right choice? Who would you have cast?
(Via Comic Book)