Over the last year there has been many rumors and much speculation about the villains in Christopher Nolan‘s forthcoming Bat-flick, The Dark Knight Rises. When Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast in the film, he was reportedly portraying the son of Carmine Falcone, which was later debunked when it was announced that he was to play John Blake, a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.

Though we now know that he will be playing Bane, back when Tom Hardy was initially cast in the film, speculation swirled about who he was to portray and people instantly speculated that, due to a recent shave job on his head, he was to play Hugo Strange.

Now, thanks to Devin over at BadAssDigest… we have our latest Hugo Strange rumor, although this one actually seems plausible, unlike the 900 before it that we didn’t bother to waste your time with. Apparently, Israeli site XNet has reported that Alon Aboutboul (Castle, Fringe, The Mentalist) has recently been cast in The Dark Knight Rises. The Israeli site’s report says that sources close to Aboutboul have stated that “ Abutbul will embody the image of a particularly evil mad scientist“. Of course this set off the internet speculation machine and people are revving up the “He’s Hugo Strange” engine.

Could he be Hugo Strange? Sure! He could also be someone completely different.

Christopher Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Goyer will also produce the film with Charles Roven and Nolan’s longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.