Tom Hardy strongly rumoured to play next Batman villain

Inception star Tom Hardy is now strongly rumoured to fill the void left by Heath Ledger to play Batman villain Hugo Strange for the upcoming The Dark Knight Returns.

Director Christopher Nolan candidly revealed last month that the villain in the much-anticipated release "won't be the Riddler" and it now appears that Strange, an obsessive police psychologist and secret villain, will take centre stage for the 2012 blockbuster. The villain is also set to be the main antagonist for next year's Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 release Batman: Arkham City.

Hardy won rave reviews in this summer's sleeper (pun intended) hit Inception and the 33-year-old in a reboot of the Mad Max series.

Christopher Nolan's last Batman outing, The Dark Knight, earned over $1 billion in the worldwide box office in 2008 and remains the US opening weekend record holder, with ticket receipts of $158m.