Selina Kyle, the most notorious cat burglar in Gotham City, finds her tenth live-action rendition in Zoë Kravitz.
Under the guidance of Matt Reeves, Kravitz will don the leather catsuit and reimagine Catwoman for modern audiences everywhere. As March 2022 draws nearer by the day, fans eagerly anticipate the newest rendition of Batman’s feline foe.
All over Twitter, the singular word — ‘Selina’ — trends worldwide as Kravitz’s latest performance unveils in just over two months. However, besides the conceptual connotations that Catwoman brings to the thrilling universe of The Batman, many fans cherish the metaphorical purpose behind her presence.
As more promotional material releases for The Batman, it’s become evident that Selina Kyle — and Zoë Kravitz by association — will be the deuteragonist of Reeve’s adaptation. Prior to the release of female-led action flicks, such as Captain Marvel (2019) and Wonder Woman (2017), there was hardly any representation for female superheroes — especially in regards to stealing the spotlight. Although The Batman still prioritizes the Bruce Wayne, his enemy-turned-lover (it seems) will play an important role as a secondary focus — and fans are loving it.
Overall, there have been ten (including Kravtitz) women who have suited up to embody the infamous femme fatale. Following in the footsteps of Eartha Kitt and Halle Berry, The Batman‘s Zoë Kravitz will officially be the third live-action Catwoman to be played by a person of color.
Therefore, not only will Kravitz represent the empowerment of female characters, but also represent the minority groups and challenge the strict white agenda that has heavily plagued entertainment for years. For those audience members, belonging to minority groups, Zoë Kravitz is a role model for successful, badass people — and more specifically women — of color.
In the latest trailer for The Batman, titled ‘The Bat and The Cat‘, Selina Kyle takes center stage as Batman’s accomplice against The Riddler. Within the trailer, Zoë Kravitz steals the show with some witty one-liners, including a clever reference to the age-old pun of Selina (and cats in general) having nine lives. In that particular scene, Bruce Wayne says, “Selina, don’t throw your life away,” to which she replies, “Don’t worry, honey. I got nine of ’em.”
Interestingly, all of these individual — and coincidental — throwbacks to Selina’s most famous lines all relate to the corresponding fact that Kravitz will be the tenth actress to portray Selina in live-action. Insightful fans have already picked apart the trailer for all its small hints and throwbacks, especially those concerning Kyle.
In addition to all the positive representation that Kravitz brings to the table, ‘The Bat and The Cat’ trailer has birthed a rather iconic meme in the below image. Several Twitter users have imaged some hilarious scenarios as to the context of the obvious bickering. Some Marvel and DC fans are relating the image to well-known disputes within the franchise, such as which Spider-Man is superior; Maguire, Garfield or Holland. One Twitter user captioned the image with “Selina, listen to me. Andrew Garfield is the best Spiderman.”
‘The Bat and The Cat’ trailer gifted DC fans with plenty of material to tide them over until March, but another official trailer is to be expected in the meantime. Perhaps, even an up-close and personal glimpse of Paul Dano’s Edward Nygma. On the other hand, audiences can remain hopeful for even more Selina Kyle content as Zoë Kravitz makes it well known that she intends to do one of DC’s most memorable characters “justice”.
See Kravitz in action as Reeve’s Catwoman when The Batman releases on March 4, 2022.
