Actress Zoe Kravitz and director Matt Reeves discuss and contemplate whether their version of Catwoman is bisexual or not in The Batman. Kravitz, who stars opposite Robert Pattinson on the big screen, is helping bring to life Reeve’s latest interpretation of The Dark Knight.
The Batman focuses more on a younger Bruce Wayne, documenting his second year fighting cryptic crime in Gotham City. The first installment is set to feature Batman up against a Zodiac-inspired version of the Riddler, played by actor Paul Dano. As Reeves went on his own creative process to uncover Batman’s mythology and the vision he wanted to bring to screen, it’s evident that the character of Selina Kyle was a massive component to further evolving Batman’s storyline. Kravitz was featured on a long list of actresses in mind for the iconic role of Catwoman and she was ultimately cast back in 2019. The Batman is approaching Selina in the same vein as the other characters, meaning it’s exploring who she was before she had yet to become the infamous Catwoman. The Batman’s Catwoman comes a decade after Anne Hathaway played her in The Dark Knight Rises - the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s DC trilogy.
Although Kravitz’s version will mimic the concept of exploring the rise of Catwoman, she is without a doubt still bringing something different to the role that has never been done before. In a recent interview with Pedestrian TV, Kravitz and Reeves were asked whether the reboot is defining and including Selina’s identity as a bisexual woman. The interviewer referenced a scene from The Batman between Selina and another female character, in which she alludes to her being bisexual. Kravitz responded, “That’s definitely the way I interpreted that, that they had some kind of romantic relationship."
Reeves, on the other hand, suggested Catwoman’s sexual identity wasn’t necessarily set in stone. “In terms of her relationship with Anika, I spoke to Zoe very early on and one of the things she said which I loved was that: ‘She’s drawn to strays because she was a stray, and so she really wants to care for these strays because she doesn’t want to be that way anymore. Anika is like a stray and she loves her. She actually represents this connection that she has to her mother who she lost, who was a stray," Reeves explained. “So I don’t think we meant to go directly in that way, but you can interpret it that way for sure. She has an intimacy with that character, and it’s a tremendous and deep caring for that character, more so than a sexual thing, but there was meant to be quite an intimate relationship between them.”
Based on this comment alone, it seems as though Kravitz and Reeves have somewhat conflicting views, with Kravitz definitely claiming Catwoman as bisexual while Reeves is leaving it up to fan’s interpretation. However, he does ultimately confirm that Anika and Catwoman do have an extremely intimate relationship. It’s promising to see that The Batman made somewhat of an effort to include Catwoman’s bisexuality and showcase some form of LGBTQ+ representation to the big screen - although DC has a long way to go when it comes to being more inclusive and diverse.
The Batman is now showing in theaters.
Source: Pedestrian
