Zoe Kravitz Land Catwoman Role In Matt Reeves ‘The Batman’
The Bat has found it’s Cat… Or rather, Matt Reeves has found his Catwoman, as it’s announced Zoe Kravitz has landed the part of Selina Kyle in ‘The Batman’ movie opposite Robert Pattinson.
The movie, which is due in June 2021 sees Pattinson take over the mantle of the Bat, with ‘Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright starring as Commissioner Gordon. Jonah Hill is also in talks to take on a villain role, which has yet to be disclosed. The film is being described as a more grounded take than we’ve seen before, with Batman facing a substantial rogue’s gallery of enemies.
For those of you that don’t know Zoe Kravitz, this isn’t her first time in a comic book movie having previously starred as Angel Salvadore in the 2011 film ‘X-Men: First Class’. It’s also not the first time she has played Catwoman, having voiced the role in ‘The Lego Batman Movie’, but now will get to do it in live-action! Her other work saw her play Christina in the ‘Divergent’ movie series, appearing in mega tv hit ‘Big Little Lies’, and voicing Mary Jane Watson in the fantastic ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’. She is next due to take the lead in a female-led tv adaptation of Nick Hornby’s ‘High Fidelity’, and is the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, who, in a weird coincidence, starred in the 2000 film adaptation of ‘High Fidelity’!
This is is, of course, not the first time we’ve seen Catwoman on screen. Back in the classic ‘Batman ’66’ tv series, the character was played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt, then Michelle Pfeiffer took the role in Tim Burton’s 1992 film ‘Batman Returns’. The next live-action performance we saw was Anne Hathaway’s take on the part in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’… and before anyone says anything, yes, there was a movie called ‘Catwoman’ starring Halle Berry inbetween those two, but it’s so unrelated to the character and dire I’m choosing to ignore it! Most recently we’ve seen Camren Bicondova (and for one episode, Lili Simmons) portray the role on the tv show ‘Gotham’.
Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character of Catwoman has been around nearly as long as the Bat himself. She appeared in the very first issue of the Batman comic book in 1940, although the characterization has changed over the years. She is a burglar who operates in Gotham City, typically wearing a tight, one-piece outfit and carrying a whip as her weapon of choice. Whilst she started out as a villain, most modern portrayals show her as more of an anti-hero, often fighting side-by-side with Batman rather than against him. The Bat and Cat often end up in some sort of romantic relationship, even getting married at one point in comic continuity. It never lasts, but they always seem to end up back in each other orbit.
Matt Reeves is set to direct ‘The Batman’ with a Reeves co-writing the script alongside Mattson Tomlin. Production is due to begin at some point in January 2020 in London.
‘The Batman’ is due to hit theatres worldwide on Friday, 25th June 2021.
