Most people don't realize how complex of a character Catwoman is. Not only has she had a plethora of origins, she has also been depicted in numerous fashions in different movies and television shows. In September, Catwoman will be getting some possible tweaks to her character when DC releases a new Catwoman series written by Judd Winick.
With The Dark Knight Rises coming out next year, we still do not know a lot about how Selina Kyle's character will be portrayed when she returns to the big screen again. We have a good idea how Batman will look. There shouldn't be too much of a change, if any, to his costume. We've also had a glimpse of Tom Hardy as Bane.
When Anne Hathaway was first announced as being in the movie, she was listed as playing Selina Kyle rather than Catwoman. There has been word that Hathaway has had wardrobe difficulties during certain scenes and I have a feeling in my gut that we'll be getting a glimpse of her onscreen look pretty soon.
With all the different costumes (and origins) Catwoman has had, which would be the best for The Dark Knight Rises?
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The one thing that recent portrayals and depictions of Catwoman have in common is a black leather/spandex look. This makes the most sense. Catwoman is largely shown to be a cat burglar.
I never really understood her early purple and green look with the cape. If she's sneaking around a rich person's penthouse suite, the last thing she needs to worry about is knocking something over with her cape.
The idea of a skin tight outfit allows for quicker movement and also makes it so she doesn't have to worry about any fabric fibers being left behind. There's also the fact that the cape and cat-mask look really won't work in the vision Christopher Nolan has established in his Batman films. Yes we may have a person dressed as a bat wearing armor but a more traditional spandex costume just wouldn't look or feel right.
What about some of the other big screen looks?
Michelle Pfieffer had the leather look in Tim Burton's Batman Returns in 1992. I always thought it was a little weird that her costume was a stitched up mess of a costume but thankfully it was black rather than the purple costume (with black thigh high boots) Selina wore in her 1993 series drawn by Jim Balent. Purple may have been a color she used on more than one costume but seeing someone run around in a purple outfit in live action is a different story.
Catwoman in Batman Returns wasn't really a cat burglar. People might like her costume but I don't like the stitching and the mask with pointy ears looks a little...silly. It might not make sense to say so since Batman's cowl has pointy ears as well but perhaps we should have a limit on the number of characters running around with pointy ears.
Then there was that other movie with Catwoman.
I feel I should avoid all mention to the 2004 movie starring Halle Berry. This movie was a disaster in more ways than one. Thankfully the character was not Selina Kyle but regardless, what was going on with her costume? It is completely ridiculous. For those that actually liked her costume...I'm not sure what to say to you. Ripped leather pants like this remind me of jeans that are carefully made with rips and torns from the clothing designer. Those jeans, to me, are one step away from acid washed jeans.
This outfit is not something Selina Kyle would wear. I don't even think she would wear it if she was in her prostitute days. I have not been able to watch this movie in its entirety and hopefully never will have to. If Nolan even went with something remotely similar to this, I'd miss the rest of the movie because my head would be bowed in shame.
There might be some options to choose from when it comes to selecting Catwoman's next big screen look but there really isn't. With all the variations she's had since her debut back in 1940's Batman #1, she's been wearing the same costume for a while now, black leather with goggles.
Last week, Hollywood Life reported that an insider revealed some information to them (wonder why the insider didn't report this to a...bigger news site). It was said that Hathaway would be wearing the goggles and her costume would be less sexy than Halle Berry and Michelle Pfieffer's costume. Would this really be a surprise? It's what makes sense and what would fit in with Nolan's vision.
Will she have a mask with pointy cat-ears along with the goggles? Other rumbling says her look will be similar to Darwyn Cooke's design. This again suggests the leather and goggles look along with cat-ears mask.
There really isn't a need for the cat-ears. This could explain why Hathaway was never officially listed as being cast as Catwoman. If it's made clear that she's a cat-burglar, there's no need to go all out and give her a complete cat-persona. If Selina Kyle is out to rob for the thrill of it, she doesn't want to get caught. She doesn't need any attention drawn to her. wearing goggles could help to hide her identity but wearing a mask with cat-ears would be going a little too far in the vibe set up in the films.
Why not have the Selina Kyle character wear a leather outfit along with goggles and that's it? For her to call herself or be referred to as Catwoman stretches the sense of disbelief further than necessary. Frank Miller may have suggested that Selina chose her guise after seeing Batman in action ("If there is be a 'bat,' can there not be a 'cat'"?). My vote is for black leather, goggles and no cat-ears. With all the insider talk and risk of images being leaked, isn't it time we get an officially released image to set this matter to rest?
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