Catwoman is a fictional character originating from DC Comics. Under the costumed alias of Catwoman, Selina Kyle, is a cat burglar with an on-again, off-again, romantic relationship with Batman. She is shown as a woman who is very strong-willed, independent and morally dubious.
I would actually like to see the cat ears. I think if you can make the ears on Batman's costume work, the ears on Catwoman can work too. It'll especially make sense if they go with the idea that the Batman inspires her to become the Catwoman. Having her look be similar would just take that imitation a step further.
The modern version of her costume is the best one for the movie, but the saying the mask wouldn't work isn't entirely true, I think.
So this is a world where men wear pointy-eared cowls, burlap sacks on their head, perfectly bisected faces, and luchador masks, and a little mask with cat ears...doesn't fit in? Isn't it all relative? This realism shtick had gone waaaaay too far when people felt Joker wearing freaking purple was "unrealistic for this world," now the ears are laughable when Batman himself is sporting dumbo's? Give me a break...there is nothing especially realistic about these. You've still got a millionaire dressing up like a bat and jumping off rooftops to take on absurd amounts of unreasonably outnumbering men...and always winning. It's heightened reality, "If this unrealistic premise were real then this is how it would be," not that it COULD be real. There's nothing grounded about this stuff.
I think the no-cat-ears thing would be worse than cat ears, honestly. If only because the fan reaction would be absurd.
That said, I think the cat motif works...the ears would only matter if she is spotted, and if she's spotted then they'll be looking for some weirdo in a costume, not some clever jewel thief.
Still, I'm reminded of Ocean's 12 (ugh....) and (ugher) 13... there's a long tradition of master thieves having aliases and being proud of their work in fiction. Would this really stand out in this Batverse?
I personally love the GOGGLES look but to have NO CAT EARS would just be LAME, if Selina is indeed going to become CATWOMAN in the film. If she's just some generic thief, the ears dont make sense BUT if she's the CAT, she needs the ears. Michelle's stitched costume in 'RETURNS' was a metaphor for her sanity. It started coming undone to match her deteriorating state of mind. Like JOKER's increasingly runny makeup in THE DARK KNIGHT. Brilliant idea that was missed by most that didnt catch all the features and interviews of both films.
It depends on what she's like in the movie. The Nolanized Joker was a fairly radical departure from the comics, but it worked for the movie. If they go for a high-class burglar, then she'll probably look a lot like the Cooke design. If she's more in the Miller (WHORES WHORES WHORES) or Burton (crazy suicidal Crow groupie) vein then something a little more sexualized or demented might be in order. Seeing as Nolan tends to cut to the bone of the character, I would suspect Selena won't even be all that villainous. Probably hired by Bane to discover Batman's identity or something like that. More of a mercenary Molotov Cocktease type to Batman's Brock Samson.
They're "fighting". Honestly, I think there's a lot of valid interpretations of Catwoman out there. For all the hatred I have for Tim Burton, I think he created an interesting character in Returns' Catwoman, and her costume was downright perfect for that character. Stitched together from a normal jacket into something twisted, it reflected her character (with her own mania literally bursting through the seams of her remaining sanity) perfectly. Crappy movie, but the costume design was top notch for Catwoman.
A part of me says that for it to look like Nolan's take on the batman series, Selina shouldn't have cat ears unless they have some kind of function. Even if we had guys that survived half of their body burned to the point that it was half-charred skeleton, a man with a stitched up mask, and the leaked image of Tom Hardy's Bane with the muzzle. Another part of me tells me that they can do the cat ears without it looking too silly. I don't know...I doubt she'll even use a whip or have little claws on her gloves for offense, just another woman wearing leather and colored goggles/glasses like every other super-heroine in comic book movies.
@G-Man: I didn't know having Cat ears would be such a big deal. Sorry man but I don't think the audience is gonna be lost in vertigo (or something) just because she has cat ears on her costume. I think most people know who Catwoman is so it probably won't be a big deal to most of them (imo). Plus there's also this quote (from the same bit of news about her costume)
"Everything from the looks in her eyes, her head movements, her body–everything is so feline."
So if they're gonna go that far, I say odds are that her costume will have cat ears. Small ones hopefully.
Regarding the stitches in Michelle Pfeiffer costume; I think it helps to represent the broken personality/psyche she had in the movie. I think it's safe to say Burton was going for the crazy angle with Selina.
@Wingfoot: She definitely showed her strong acting chops in Rachel's Getting Married, and proved that she's a believable action star in Get Smart, and Chris Nolan hasn't let us down so far. I think Catwoman is in good hands.
Keep the ears. Batman has the ears in the films and its believable. Catwoman should fall under the same circumstances. Its a believable reality but still a comic book movie. KEEP EM! :P
I disagree with the article. It would be totally lame and pointless to have her burglarizing people, and not be called cat woman, and not have the cat ears. Screw the need for realism. This is a movie based of a comic book. It should reflect that. I'm tired of this taboo of "stretching the sense of disbelief". Batman's not believable, so why should any of his enemies?
Nope, cat ears gotta stay. While her costume has gone through many changes, the cat ears have always been consistent.
Catwoman's best look yet, imo.
I'm with you! Cat ears, yeah yeah yeah gotta stay.
Also, I'm not so much for realistic when it comes to Bat Books or super hero in general. Some of my favorite characters are absolutely ridiculous and I like them that way.
The cat ears have always been a part of the Catwoman look/Selina Kyle's masked image, have they not? I feel like they should go with the costume no matter what, but that's just me. I do like the black suit and goggles, though. I agree with you about the purple, though -- it may be one of my favorite colors, but I don't think it would fit Christopher Nolan's idea. The Arkham City one looks pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. The costume in the Halle Berry wannabe-Catwoman movie looks like one of those cheaply made ones from a costume site/store (in fact, the one they sell online looks exactly like it...haha). Mind you, I'm basing my opinion solely on the photo posted in the article AND the bits of the ads that I can remember from seven years ago -- I have never seen the movie and am afraid to because of how horrible it looks haha.
But I like this one ( love my opinion or hate it ) this says catwoman to me .. it`s 90s catwoman ( from a simpler time where batmen were batmen and catwomen were catwomen ! ^_^ )
I'm with you on this one. I love this Catwoman costume. It's the absolute best. I've never liked the new Catwoman with the goggles and exposed face. She doesn't look mysterious anymore and she looks more like a regular burglar than a unique cat burglar. Boring and unappealing. Please Christopher Nolan. Please make this purple outfit for Anne Hathaway.
Yes! This is my absolute favorite Catwoman look! If they want it to look more realistic, they could darken the purple some but this for me is classic Catwoman and I would love to see Anne Hathaway in something very similar to this! I really, really dislike the google whore look. I'm just not a fan of the costume or the origin.
Glad to hear a few people favor this purple look like me. ^_^ I love everything about this purple version of Catwoman. It's sexy, mysterious, beautiful, dangerous and eye catching. Plus her exposed wavy, hair makes her even more stunning. Jim Balent should be the executive concept artist for Catwoman in this upcoming film. Bottom line, Catwoman must wear full-body, skin tight costume and a mask. I don't understand why DC Comics decided to expose her face in her new look. It's stupid, and the goggles makes her look like a sniper-wielding assassin, not the awesome cat burglar that we know and love. The new look has no sense of elegance.This purple version does.
For whatever reason I have always loved the Michelle Pfieffer version. I watched that movie when I was very young and even with my terrible piece of junk memory, the scene where she is making her costume always is there in my brain as cool. I am worried about the whole Anne Hathaway situation, I don't much like her. I hope she's good in the role. But meh, I just don't like her.
@Psykhophear: But why would a cat burglar wear such a ridiculous color? If they somehow worked in that the purple was effective in countering some sort of security measure, I could see it. But looking like Mrs. Barney the Dinosaur is a ridiculous look on anyone, even someone with Anne Hathaway's figure. If anything, the purple is 180 degrees opposed to Nolan's take; it belongs squarely in the '60's camp Batman.
@shackle: Yes, I admit that purple is a poor choice of color for a cat burglar but I think it looks great nonetheless. And at least this version she wears a mask. The new version she sometimes takes her goggles off, revealing her face. That to me is much more exposing than the purple version because the security cameras can pick her up right away and immediately identify the perpetrator. That's pretty careless, don't you think?
@Psykhophear: And I would say there are times to wear goggles, and there are times not to wear goggles. In the middle of a heist? Wear the goggles. Back home counting your loot? Don't wear the goggles. Walking past security into a building, with your Catwoman garb underneath a coat? Don't wear your goggles, unless you want to alert them that you are, indeed, the Catwoman that has been reported on the news.
@shackle: If she accidentally drops her goggles during a chase then she's screwed.
Haha, you made your point. Ok so the goggles have its use after all but still, I don't like it. It doesn't suit her at all. For me, it's wearing a mask the whole way. I guess it's because I grew up with the 90's version of Catwoman and have since become accustomed to that purple look. The goggles look may fit today's generation and the whole tone of Christopher Nolan's upcoming film but I still think she looks like a covert mercenary or an assassin, not the cat burglar I know and love.
@DMC: I never said the cat-ears would be a problem. I just don't see why a catburglar would actually dress up as a cat. I totally dig the look but don't see the necessity. Plus, we still haven't seen official confirmation that she will be called Catwoman.
I personally love the GOOGLES look but to have NO CAT EARS would just be LAME, if Selina is indeed going to become CATWOMAN in the film. If she's just some generic thief, the ears dont make sense BUT if she's the CAT, she needs the ears. Michelle's stitched costume in 'RETURNS' was a metaphor for her sanity. It started coming undone to match her deteriorating state of mind. Like JOKER's increasingly runny makeup in THE DARK KNIGHT. Brilliant idea that was missed by most that didnt watch all the special features of both films.
Where did they say in The Dark Knight special features that The Joker's makeup went increasingly runny throughout the film? 'Cause 1) I don't think it did, and 2) The only thing I heard about his makeup in general is that Heath Ledger himself applied it everyday. And that second part wasn't even from the special features, I read it in the trivia on IMDb. I don't mean to accuse you or anything, I'm just curious on where you heard that.
There isn't a need for cat ears? Whaaaaat? Of course there's a need for cat-ears. Bruce Wayne dons a bat mask because bats scare him and the symbolism of his inner fear being used offensively is metaphorical for his conviction. The same is true for Catwoman and being that she is foil of sorts for Batman it works.
Selina relates to cats because her mother surrounded herself with them for most of her childhood and eventually succumbed to a deep depression and killed herself leaving Selina with an alcoholic father who resented and abused her for her resemblance to her mother. She combats her childhood abuse by defying her father in twofold, both resembling her mother comfortably AND by dressing like a cat while carrying out her juvenile extra-curricular activities. It's her empowerment. Furthermore, her stay at an orphanage resulted in her being tied up in a bag like a cat and tossed over a bridge which she managed to save herself from through sheer will and resourcefulness.
Selina dresses like a cat because it's a prevailing and strong symbol in her life that has weathered the storms and satiates her tragic life.
PS- Initially I was skeptical about this Anne Hathaway but I've heard she's accidentally gone nuts on set a few times after getting deep into the character so now I'm EXCITED as all hell. She's tearing up her costume during fight scenes, pistol-whippin' guys and givin' em black eyes....maybe she's not as inoffensive and dull as I thought! I am LOVING it.
@G-Man: Fair enough....... Still, I think seeing more villains in stand-out costumes makes sense in Nolans Bat-Universe. Think about the evolution of the criminal in Gotham and what Jim Gordan said at the end of Batman Begins. As one side evolves and improves their game so will the other side. It only makes sense that we should see it come to pass in the sequels. As you already know, the costume is part of what sets Batman's rogues apart form regular criminals (imo) part of why they're called super criminals. A bad guy dressed like a clown or wearing a ripped bag over their head (scarecrow) says a lot. At the very least it would say they're nuts but also says that they shouldn't be taken lightly, that they may be a cut above the rest.
If the quote I posted is to be believed this won't be you're average cat-burglar since "everything is so feline" about Selina Kyle.
In one way or another, the villains (vigilantes/anti-heroes) in the film have to stand out like Batman does.
@G-Man: Yes I have seen the video it was great. It's just because of the Cosplay Babs has done of Catwoman that when I think of Comicvine and all things Catwoman, Babs is the first person that comes to mind, I hope that makes sense.
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Catwoman's best look yet, imo.
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