The Dark Knight returns to play a game of Bat and Cat Kyle in The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. In an interview with Therese Lacson at Comics Beat, the stars and director of the highly anticipated movie about he who flaps in the night spoke about what went into bringing the latest incarnation of The Dark Knight to the big screen. During the press event, Zoë Kravitz, who plays the role of Selina Kyle, revealed DC fans would be seeing a version of the character who has not yet achieved her apotheosis as Catwoman!
In The Batman, DC fans will have a chance to see Selina Kyle, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane for Batman #1 in 1940, before she ever became “the Cat” and one of The Dark Knight’s most enduring foes (and love interests). As Kravitz told Lacson, she enjoyed exploring a new side of the character and playing Kyle before she’s shouldered the mantle of Catwoman.
“I think with these iconic characters that we all love so much; it can be overwhelming in terms of, OK, now, here’s Catwoman,” said Kravitz. “I have this wonderful opportunity to slowly develop her, and the audience gets to come on that journey with me. But, obviously, learning all the combat and the way she moves and finding ways to kind of hint at whom she will become was a really fun process.”
Zoë Kravitz Inspired by Batman: Year One
Reeves specifically commented on Kravitz’s commitment to keeping her version of Selina Kyle comic book accurate. “There were images literally from the comic books that [she] was like, ‘God if we could do this moment,'” said Reeves. “There was stuff from Year One, and there was [Kravitz asking], ‘Can we do this image?’ And I was like, ‘Let me see if we can do this image.'”
Batman: Year One is one of three Batman comics officially recommended as reading to audiences who want to look at the source material that inspired the movie before they see it in theaters or on home video, along with Batman: Ego and Other Tails. Kyle fans should expect to see inspiration from Ego too, as this story provides a flashback showing the first time Kyle appeared wearing the guise of Catwoman.
Another interesting bit from the interview is that Kravtiz brought a deep understanding of the character to the production (no doubt aided by reading the source material), which helped shape the way you’ll see Kyle depicted on screen. In particular, a specific exchange between Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Selina, in which Selina says she has “a thing” about stray cats, is credited to Kravitz’s desire to connect Kyle’s background as an orphan with her predilection for felines. As Kravitz explained to The Beat, “When I read the script, it says that she has all these cats and that I understood that that was to kind of tip-off the audience [that] she’s Catwoman, but I really wanted to understand why.”
According to Reeves, the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Kyle is integral. “To me, that’s the heart of the movie,” said Reeves. “The push-pull between the two of them – and that’s the way that she’s going to evolve and where all of that will go.”
Reading between the lines, does this mean Kyle will eventually headline her own Catwoman film? It seems like there are enough characters in The Batman to support more than a few sequels, so keep your fingers (or paws) crossed.
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