Zoë Kravitz has a brief outing as Catwoman in The LEGO Batman Movie nearly half a decade ago, but now she’s getting to bring a fully-formed Selina Kyle to life in live-action for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Like Robert Pattinson’s take on the Caped Crusader, Kravitz’s Selina is in the early days of operating as Catwoman, but she’s nonetheless a skilled combatant with distinctive moves. In fact, Kravitz drew inspiration for Catwoman’s fighting style from actual felines.
Yes, Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman earns that name beyond just being a sneaky and acrobatic cat burglar. As the actress informed Empire, she and The Batman’s stunt coordinator Rob Alonzo watched footage of various types of cats to make Selina’s fighting movements unique. In Kravitz’s words:
We watched cats and lions and how they fight, and talked about what is actually possible when you’re my size, and Batman’s so much stronger than me. What is my skill? It’s being fast and tricky. So we did some really interesting floor work that incorporated different kinds of martial arts and capoeira and a kind of feline, dance-like movement.
The end result is a Selina Kyle who’s very precise with her movements, which are also rooted in her emotional state. The same goes for Robert Pattinson’s Batman, with Zoë Kravitz noting that because this version of Bruce Wayne is still relatively new to the crimefighting game, the actor’s “not just trying to do a bunch of impressive backflips that wouldn’t be possible for that person to do.” As we saw in The Batman’s first trailer, those two fighting styles will collide at some point in the movie, but eventually Bruce and Selina will join forces and start building their flirtatious relationship.
Zoë Kravitz also addressed how Matt Reeves’ noir take on the Batman mythology in the upcoming movie allowed for ample opportunity explore her Catwoman’s rising femme fatale side opposite Bruce Wayne as the “brooding hero.” As she put it:
This is an origin story for Selina. So, it’s the beginning of her figuring out who she is, beyond just someone trying to survive. I think there’s a lot of space to grow and I think we are watching her become what I’m sure will be the femme fatale.
Taking place in Bruce Wayne’s second year of striking fear into the hearts of criminals, The Batman sees its eponymous protagonist hunting down Paul Dano’s Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, a serial killer targeting Gotham City’s elite citizens. Colin Farrell will also cause some trouble on the side as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (who’s also set to lead his own HBO Max series), and John Turturro will star as crime lord Carmine Falcone. It appears that Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle has a close relationship with the latter, and it’s been speculated that like in Batman: The Long Halloween, this version of Selina could be Carmine’s daughter.
We only have a few of months left to learn if that’s the case and more, as The Batman casts its shadow in theaters on March 4, 2022. Keep your eyes locked on CinemaBlend for more news about this highly-anticipated blockbuster and other upcoming DC Comics movies.
