Zoe Kravitz already has a little experience with Catwoman from her time on The LEGO Batman Movie, but now she’s getting to play the character in live-action through The Batman. With Selina Kyle being one of the movie’s key supporting characters, Kravitz turned to DC Comics source material to research the character, and Batman: Year One proved to be quite beneficial to the actress.
Here’s what Zoe Kravitz recently had to say when asked if she’d been reading any Batman comics to read for preparation:
I’ve been reading the Year One comic. It’s great, it’s super badass.
Written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, the Batman: Year One arc was originally published in 1987 across Batman #404-407. The story simultaneously chronicles the beginning of Bruce Wayne’s crimefighting journey after returning to Gotham City following years of training, and James Gordon joining the GCPD and struggling with corruption within the police force. Selina Kyle also shows up and is inspired to become Catwoman after seeing Batman in action.
While Batman’s origin story has been redone several times in the decades since Batman: Year One’s publication (I’m partial to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman: Zero Year), Year One arguably remains the most well-known story depicting how Bruce Wayne came up with the Dark Knight identity. It was adapted into an animated movie in 2011, and Warner Bros hired filmmaker Darren Aronofsky to write and direct a live-action theatrical Year One movie a few years after Batman & Robin critically bombed, although the project was eventually scrapped due to creative differences. Elements of Year One were also infused into both Batman Begins and the Fox TV series Gotham.
So if one is looking for insight on Catwoman’s early years, Batman: Year One is definitely worth delving into, though I’m hoping that Zoe Kravitz also read Batman: The Long Halloween, as Selina Kyle also has an important role in that story. During her appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Kravitz also talked about how she loves her Catwoman costume, though there’s no word on when we’ll finally get a look at the actress in her feline-like outfit.
No specific plot details for The Batman have been revealed yet besides that it is reportedly set in Bruce Wayne’s second year of crimefighting and will highlight his detective skills. So for now, it’s hard to say how Catwoman fits into the narrative, although given how nowadays the character falls more into anti-hero/protagonist territory, I suspect she won’t be a full-fledged villain in the movie.
Along with Zoe Kravitz and Robert Pattinson, The Batman’s cast includes Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál. Principal photography began in January, but had to be suspended in mid-March due to the global health crisis, though it’s looking like filming will resume soon.
Previously slated for a June 25, 2021 drop, The Batman will now swoop into theaters on October 1, 2021, so keep checking in with CinemaBlend for more updates on its progress. Be sure to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else this corner of the superhero film genre has coming down the creative pipeline.
