The Dark Knight Rises introduced a version of Catwoman, but it fell short in her characterization. The Batman has a great opportunity to give depth to an important comic book character by actually shinning the spotlight on her, and showing not just her motivations, but her innate sense of compassion.
Catwoman isn’t a wholly unfamiliar character for people who have followed Batman, and yet live-action versions of the character haven’t truly done her justice. Picking the worst is, however, easy. Halle Berry’s 2004 version of the character was saddled with such a bad plot that it’s hard to believe the people behind the movie actually wanted it to succeed. Even Halle Berry in leather isn’t enough to sell a movie that’s otherwise about absolutely nothing. Sadly, this has been the only Catwoman solo movie, ironic in an age of reboots that has seen 3 different men step into Batman’s shoes since that movie was released.
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TV has also seen a few different versions of Catwoman, from Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and Lee Meriwether in the Batman TV series and movie from the ’60s to Maggie Baird, who played the character mostly on flashbacks on the short-lived CW series Birds of Prey. Of these, Newmar is the most memorable, and to this day, the actress most people associate with Catwoman. This probably has to do with the fact that she’s the one that’s gotten more development, and though the Batman TV series was mostly about Batman and Robin, she had her own chance to shine. And shine she did. Not only that, she more than kept up with Batman.
Camren Bicondova played a younger version of Selina Kyle in Gotham, and though it could be said that Bicondova wasn’t truly playing Catwoman, not yet, like Newmar, she got more of a chance to define the character than others, just by virtue of having more time as Selina. The fact that the show didn’t spend much time with the characters as adults, however, makes it hard to refer to her as a definite version of Catwoman. She holds a place in the mythos, but not the definite place. That still belongs to Anne Hathaway and, especially, Michelle Pfeiffer.
Hathaway’s version is interesting, in that she was meant to be more than she ended up being. Introduced less as a straight-up villain and more like a love interest, her Selina Kyle gets the happy ending. She drives off into the literal sunset with Batman, the ending other versions of the character don’t get. And there’s undoubtedly chemistry and great banter between her and Bale. The problem is that the focus is hardly ever on her, but is instead placed on the relationship, and on how Selina serves Bruce Wayne’s storyline.
This is probably why Pfeiffer’s version remains the definitive one in people’s minds. She doesn’t get the happy on-screen ending Hathaway’s version gets – though a deleted scene from the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths does mention her being back and engaged to Bruce Wayne – but she got to show more than one side to Selina Kyle. In addition to being tough and agile, Pfeiffer’s version of the character got to be vulnerable. Moreover, the film never truly asks her to stay one thing. Instead she gets to balance both in the same way we all do in real life: badly. This makes her a more relatable character, even when she’s jumping around rooftops in a skintight catsuit.
Zoë Kravitz is stepping into the role for next year’s The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, and even though there’s a lot to compare her to, the expectations are already high. As previously discussed, Catwoman has seen many interpretations, but very few ones that would make fans think no one else can ever play the role. This hasn’t truly been down to the actresses, but also to the writing of the character as too one-dimensional, one way or another. Kravitz has the gravitas to make Selina Kyle into more than a sidekick, and to be the reference for the character for years to come. If she is to do that, though, the writing will have to allow her a chance to shine not just in relation to Batman, but in spite of him.
This doesn’t mean Catwoman has to be the center of a movie called The Batman, but the movie does have a unique chance to redefine the character going forward. The stage is set, the actress looks uniquely qualified to embody everything that Selina Kyle is. All she needs is the right writing to break out of the cliches the character has sometimes lived in. If The Batman can do that, then hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Catwoman in the years to come. Not just the sometimes-villain, but the smart, compassionate, complex woman we haven’t gotten to explore as much as fans would have wanted.
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