The cast of The Batman is finally starting to come together. Robert Pattinson was hired as the latest Dark Knight over the summer and this week, we’ve learned that Jonah Hill is the top choice for the Riddler with Jeffrey Wright signing up as Commissioner Gordon. That second casting is particularly notable as it means the traditionally Caucasian character will be portrayed as African-American. And it seems there are plans to diversify the world of Batman even further, too, especially when it comes to the female leads of the film.
According to a new rumor reported by Cosmic Book News, Warner Bros. intends to cast women of color to play both Catwoman and Poison Ivy. While that remains to be confirmed by any official sources, we do know that Selina Kyle has long been considered as a major player in The Batman, with another report from Heroic Hollywood also claiming that WB is looking for a POC for the character. Apparently, the idea is to get a “Zoe Kravitz-type,” though the star herself is too busy to take the gig. As for Pamela Isley, the villainess has recently become attached to the project thanks to talk of Rihanna playing the part.
Catwoman has a long history of being played by women of color, too, going back to the groundbreaking casting of Eartha Kitt as Selina in the 1960s Batman show. That was followed up, of course, by Halle Berry in 2004’s Catwoman movie. Poison Ivy hasn’t been portrayed as anything other than Caucasian in live-action media to date though, so that might be a more talked-about change. Then again, the internet seems to have agreed that Rihanna would be a perfect Ivy.
With news on Hill and Wright now out there, maybe we can expect some word on who’s in line to play Selina and Poison Ivy in The Batman sooner rather than later. In the meantime, though, feel free to drop your fancasts in the comments while we wait.
