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Bat-Analysis: The Costume Of Catwoman In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
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Hunter Camp   |  

Selina Kyle

Hey everybody, I just woke up to see that the first official promotional photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman from Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises had just been released. Thirty minutes staring at the photo, 3 minutes finding a picture of Julie Newmar, and two scans later, I’m ready to give you guys my perspective in the first edition of what I like to call Geeks of Doom’s Bat-Analysis.

So, let’s start with the actual promo photo shown above, shall we?

What we have here is Anne Hathaway in a tactile suit that looks like leftover costuming from the G.I. Joe movie. That’s not a bad thing at all, mind you, it just has the appearance of being more along the lines of something a spy or high-tech thief would wear, as opposed to the all-leather costumes we’ve seen before. You know, those horrible made from scratch [get it!?] costumes that were featured in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns starring Michelle Pfeiffer and [this is totally not] Catwoman starring Halle Berry. So Hathaway’s costume itself is faithful enough to a real world adaptation of something the character that Selina Kyle from the comics would actually wear.

Catwoman

Good work to Christopher Nolan and crew for getting that right.

Now, let’s talk about the hair. I fancy myself a bit of a fashionista, so one of the first things I pay attention to when I see promo photos is what the actor/actress’ hair looks like [see my complaints about the Henry Cavill Man of Steel photo]. Traditionally, Catwoman has had long hair since her inception in the early days of Batman comics through the days of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Long Halloween and Catwoman: When in Rome. So, it stays in line with that. However, for myself and from what I understand, most comic readers actually prefer the Darwyn Cooke redesign of Selina Kyle with a shorter pixie-style haircut. In fact, last night when I saw the trailer for One Day starring Anne Hathaway, I screamed out, “She’s got Catwoman hair!”

Anne Hathaway Haircut

So, imagine my disappointment when I woke up to this new promo picture today. Tsk, tsk. I mean, how are you going to stealthily fight/steal things with all that hair in your face? It just doesn’t make sense, you guys. And, I mean, she already had the pixie cut! That’s a lost opportunity, if you ask me, which, I actually was asked to do for this analysis, so leave me alone!

Now let’s take a look at the mask/goggles/whatever the Hell that is on her face that in no way resembles a cowl or cat ears or anything.

Anne Hathaway's Head

I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to costume redesigns that don’t stay dead-on faithful to the source material, but taking away Catwoman’s ears just crosses the line. It’s like giving Batman a domino mask. I mean, I love domino masks, don’t get me wrong, but he stops being Batman once he doesn’t have bat features. Now, if the approach is to actually not have Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, but only as Selina Kyle, then I am going to leave the theater a very angry Batman fan. Either way, Catwoman or Selina Kyle, the goggle/mask combo pays tribute to the first on-screen Catwomen: Julie Newmar, Ertha Kitt, and Lee Meriwether from the 1960s Batman TV series.

Newmar

Which, I honestly don’t have a problem with. It’s a harlequin mask style, which is at home in the reality-based Nolan Bat-verse. My only problem is that you can pretty much take the Cooke redesign of cowl with goggles of Catwoman from the page to the screen, and it would look perfect.

Catwoman Face

See what I mean? This already has the Nolan style feel, and I think Hathaway could bring that style to life on screen. I just hope this is the tease and not the final product. But again, it’s not terrible. It’s actually a really cool, stealth approach to the character, which is nice to see for once. All recent film versions of Catwoman have focused strictly on the sex appeal, and not on what makes Catwoman awesome. Yes, she is a sexy character, but the way she looks isn’t her sole purpose. Do I think that the costume could have been better? Yes, I think the current look of Catwoman in the comics is pretty much perfect in every way, and that it doesn’t need changing. But I’m also taking everything into consideration here.

But if you’re having some reservations about this take on Selina Kyle, think of two things:

1) She’s probably not going to be brought back to life by magical cat powers.
2) The costume doesn’t look like this:

Halle Berry Cat Woman

Be very thankful.

46 Comments »

  1. Wow, two horrible costume reveals in as many days.  First the horrible Superman costume and now the not-Cat Woman abomination that we just saw.

    Big pass.

    Comment by Steve — August 5, 2011 @ 6:37 pm

  2. Wow, two horrible costume reveals in as many days.  First the horrible Superman costume and now the not-Cat Woman abomination that we just saw.

    Big pass.

    Comment by Steve — August 5, 2011 @ 6:37 pm

  3. Anne Hathaway does not a good Catwoman make and this awful costume just proves that.

    Comment by jolie752 — August 5, 2011 @ 7:22 pm

  4. I’m fully of the opinion this isn’t the full Catwoman outfit (especially since the picture is titled “Selina_Kyle”).  The suit is fantastic.  Seeing the pics of it with the stunt double accentuates what an excellent choice it is. 

    Seeing the masquerade-style cat mask in other set photos left me a little cold and you could kind of see it as the bases for the eyewear she’s donning in this pic.  But this seems more like something tactical she would use while riding the Batpod (?!). 

    I expect to see a cowl with the ears at some point.  The sticking point will be if it’s a mask or goggles that they use for the “eyes”.

    Comment by Anonymous — August 5, 2011 @ 7:25 pm

  5. I’m fully of the opinion this isn’t the full Catwoman outfit (especially since the picture is titled “Selina_Kyle”).  The suit is fantastic.  Seeing the pics of it with the stunt double accentuates what an excellent choice it is. 

    Seeing the masquerade-style cat mask in other set photos left me a little cold and you could kind of see it as the bases for the eyewear she’s donning in this pic.  But this seems more like something tactical she would use while riding the Batpod (?!). 

    I expect to see a cowl with the ears at some point.  The sticking point will be if it’s a mask or goggles that they use for the “eyes”.

    Comment by Anonymous — August 5, 2011 @ 7:25 pm

  6. Breaking Jaw… ;XD

    Comment by Nick Otmazgin — August 5, 2011 @ 8:15 pm

  7. The costumer so far looks bad ass. They need to venture as far away from the original concepts of Catwoman, that was featured in previous films/tv shows, as they can. Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Batman has been brilliant thus far. No reason to soil it borrowing corny concepts of years past.

    Comment by David Lawyer — August 5, 2011 @ 8:24 pm

  8. I think there is a mask behind goggles Anne Hathaway is wearing as Catwoman & it can be flipped up. She might look like this. Of course avoid by tacky photoshop work. The team working on The Dark Knight Rises will surely make it look much much better.. http://twitpic.com/61gpvp

    Comment by Mr. Tea / Chai Kumar — August 5, 2011 @ 3:58 pm

  9. The pixie cut is actually a wig yahoo made some big deal out of it when they were shooting that film

    Comment by Ironings2001 — August 5, 2011 @ 6:58 pm

  10. The pixie cut may be YOUR preference but don’t generalize that applies to the majority.

    Also, what does hair length have to do with thieving or fighting skills? After all there are such things as pony tails to get them out of the way. Even non metas like Huntress have long flowing hair. Doesn’t affect her fighting skills whatsoever right?

    I also think Darwyn Cooke’s Catwoman is the ugliest thing ever. Doesn’t she look like a bug? I’m glad Nolan skipped the cowl here.

    Comment by Anonymous — August 6, 2011 @ 1:53 pm

  11.  She can do the part, it’s just the goggles that she has that turn everybody off. I doubt that Nolan’s going to do anything stupid.

    Comment by Justin Winley — August 6, 2011 @ 2:07 pm

  12. So the current cat mask and goggles don’t work for you? I think that would look really good on screen.

    Comment by Justin Winley — August 6, 2011 @ 2:08 pm

  13. is the saaaame suit http://twitpic.com/61ypxc

    Comment by talitac8 — August 6, 2011 @ 12:18 pm

  14. I see a lot of people complaining about the goggles/lack of cat-ish things about the costume. But this is, for all we know, Selina’s transformation into Catwoman and this shot might be from somewhere in the beginning of the movie and her costume will become something more like what we are used to by the end of the film and we will get to go through that transformation with her. 

    I don’t know, I’m keeping my mind open because in Nolan I trust. 

    Comment by Val — August 6, 2011 @ 8:47 pm

  15. I see a lot of people complaining about the goggles/lack of cat-ish things about the costume. But this is, for all we know, Selina’s transformation into Catwoman and this shot might be from somewhere in the beginning of the movie and her costume will become something more like what we are used to by the end of the film and we will get to go through that transformation with her. 

    I don’t know, I’m keeping my mind open because in Nolan I trust. 

    Comment by Val — August 6, 2011 @ 8:47 pm

  16. Dont worry about the goggles. She will wear the “ears”. This is just a single-screenshot. It like when Batman uses the sonar vision in TDK, thats just a one timer so far. She will have a mask similar to Batmans, the only expection being Batmans ears are straight up on his mask, the Catwomens tilted to the sides as always.

    The movie will be great, as always when its done by an excellent director and actors, and dont forget all the people who are doing a great job of screen( Nolan already mentioned).

    Comment by THEDARKKNIGTSRISES!!! — August 8, 2011 @ 1:47 pm

  17. when are people going to trust in Nolan, you all complained with Heath ledger and how did that turn out.

    do the logical thing and wait till the movie comes out,

    side note, be you that the googles are tied to the sonar from the second film

    Comment by Careyd82316 — August 10, 2011 @ 6:03 pm

  18. Not gonna lie, its refreshing to hear from a male that catwomen is about more than just sex appeal.

    That being said, I also will be extremely depressed if they took away her ears/cat features. I’ve been reading batman since I could read, and was pretty much raised on the movies. Catwoman was one of my first (and favorite) female role models (right after Poison Ivy – She just wants to save the planet!). You can’t make a character something its not. Its no longer that character anymore!

    I love the costume though, including the goggles. Just wish they would have at least added a little more catty-ness to it. :)

    -Myssi.

    Comment by MommaMyssi. — August 12, 2011 @ 8:35 pm

  19. I don’t mind the Cooke version either.  But this costume…it can’t possibly be any worse.  Respectfully I can’t possibly see one single thing you see in this costume that you could defend.  As soon as I saw it I instantly was reminded of Batgirl’s costume in Batman 4.  She bears NO resemblance to Catwoman and saying she’s paying tribute to earlier incarnations with her goggles is a stretch I think.  If you want to talk about what someone would wear modern day, please don’t forget your watching a comic book movie and while it may be slightly more realistic than previous incarnations, this Batman is still just as ridiculous as a possibility.  And I’m preeeeeetty sure that a modern version of Batman wouldn’t be fighting crime walking around in a flippin cape!  Or Bat ears for that matter.  But the cape…I mean really.  Screw long hair, the cape would ruin you, ha ha.  Catwoman SHOULD look sexy.  There are certain things in culture that really take the cake in some areas and I can’t think of much in this world sexier than Catwoman.  Take that away and you really don’t have Catwoman.  Not the one we love anyway.  Halle Berry shouldn’t be mentioned as that film wasn’t about Catwoman, but rather someone with the same name and not based on any comic (as you know).  Michelle Pfeiffer was purfect.  While I didn’t like the sound of Anne playing Catwoman, I didn’t initially like the idea of Keaton either and in my opinion he still did the best job and displayed better acting than the lot.  So I can have a wait and see attitude for Anne.  After all, she’s an actress and I’ve never seen her try any such thing of course so maybe she’d be great. But this picture…I can only hope this is early in the film before she comes up with a costume.  I mean surely it is.  There is right next to nothing about her that looks like Catwoman.  She just looks like some girl in a bland and boring suit with some ultra gay goggles that make me think of the horribly cheesy sunglasses (initially born in the 80’s) with a bit of color on the side that scream out ‘cheap’ and ‘gawdy’….really just plain piss ugly.  Only this is the more expensive version of that same glass turd.  This thing sticks out…sure that makes it a little more military grade…and a lot more boring and super-hero-less.  This is a comic book movie, not Black Hawk Down.  This picture…if they are honestly going with this which I seriously doubt….would show that they have decided to not use Catwoman as we know her but only in name.  More of some random soldier than the Catwoman we’d all love to see.  What a horrible horrible…well you can’t call it a costume.  She’s not in one.  Let’s keep waiting and see if she’s actually a superhero in this film, shall we?

    You could present a James Bond that didn’t have women fawning all over him as he romances a girl or 3…you could do that.  But you really wouldn’t have James Bond as our culture knows him.  There are plenty of other movies to be made with other characters, but we expect certain things from certain people that are icons of a culture.  Catwoman is supposed to have sex appeal.  In spades!

    Comment by Bogle — August 14, 2011 @ 5:29 am

  20. “Yes, I think the current look of Catwoman in the comics is pretty much perfect in every way,”

    Minus points for passing up the opportunity to say “purrfect”.

    Comment by Robb Gibson — August 14, 2011 @ 6:35 pm

  21. They have posted one picture.  Who knows, she very well could get the cat ears.  But also remember they have only called her “Selina Kyle” not Catwoman.  They’ve been clear with that. 

    Anne Hathaway is a stellar actress and I’m sure she will do a great job.  Nolan wouldn’t do something stupid.

    Comment by Matt Brooks — August 16, 2011 @ 4:23 am

  22. catwoman IS supposed to be fiesty, sexy, and “catty”. and even if catwoman is more than just a hot babe to you, im pretty sure she is supposed to have more than ZERO sex appeal. has your blind faith in nolan made you so goddamned idiotic that you are unable to see any flaws even when they are so glaringly obvious? good god!

    and stop using the “nolan’s trying to make it realistic” excuse for the absence of the mask (assuming she doesn’t put it on later in the movie). no matter how realistic he tries to make it, he and you should not forget that this is a SUPERHERO movie. the concept itself can never be truly “realistic”. and if nolan really feels so embarrassed by such superhero elements than he should have never chosen to direct batman begins in the first place. now, even disregarding all this, ask yourself this question: will the catwoman mask really look more ridiculous in a “realistic” setting than the batman costume(s) that nolan has used? would it be any more “silly” than the growling voice nolan makes bale do?

    … no it wouldnt!

    Comment by Timmyjingoro — August 24, 2011 @ 3:47 am

  23. You fail… casting anne as cat woman will already not make me step into the theater.

    Comment by Lotuswave — August 30, 2011 @ 8:30 am

  24. I totally agree with you. FYI Tim Burton’s batman is much better!

    Comment by Lotuswave — August 30, 2011 @ 8:34 am

  25. No She cannot… its awful! Anne hathaway is annoying!

    Comment by Lotuswave — August 30, 2011 @ 8:37 am

  26. Megan Fox would have been a better Cat Woman.. LOL

    Comment by Rickert1880 — September 8, 2011 @ 5:27 pm

  27. r u mentally handicapped Tim Burton may have brought Batman to the screen but he did everything wrong with Batman….in Burtons movies in no particular order changes Catwoman’s complete origin story, screwed Batmans costume, the big one killed left and right (attaching a bomb to a guy and then lighting another one on fire with the Batmobile, ad infinitum….Burton even admitted he doesn’t read comic books they are for children why do u think Kevin Smith had such a problem with his horrible ass take on the Bat franchise….jesus he even changed Batmans origin by having the Joker kill his parents instead of Joe Chill

    Comment by Justin — September 10, 2011 @ 6:50 pm

  28. in Nolan I trust

    Comment by Justin — September 10, 2011 @ 6:51 pm

  29. I agree I ride a Roadstar motorcycle and if your riding around on the Batpod your going to need something that is going to make you ride better try going 100mph without goggles now try riding the Batpod without some kind of Bat echo location radar goggles maybe it will show from her perspective and she will have a 360 degree view like some of the new military gear the Army is trying out

    Comment by Justin — September 10, 2011 @ 6:57 pm

  30. dude there was no Batman 4 there was some spoof Batman movie they called Batman & Robin but that was like Scary Movie to Scream it wasn’t a real Batman movie or even in the series of Bat films lol

    Comment by Punktu8 — September 10, 2011 @ 7:02 pm

  31. Halle should have been a cat woman in this movie. I loved her in “Catwoman” and loved the costume too. She was and is sexy as hell and she would have been perfect.

    Comment by Anonymous — September 10, 2011 @ 9:46 pm

  32. Disregarding the dubious casting choice of Hathaway as Catwoman, Nolan fails to realize that Catwoman is just a terrible villain choice for a ‘realistic’ Batman. Yeah, I get that none of them are supposed to have *powers*, which limits villain choice severely, and I understand why Nolan didn’t want to go with the Riddler or the Penguin, given their similarities to the Joker, but choosing the antihero Catwoman over awesome realistic supervillains like Hugo Strange and Black Mask is just retarded. Maybe Bane will make up for her.

    Comment by Wastedinjackson — September 13, 2011 @ 6:27 am

  33. you do know that Hugo Strange will be in this movie as well right

    Comment by Ries — September 16, 2011 @ 12:37 pm

  34. This character is stated as Selina Kyle not Catwoman Nolan has never said Catwoman is in the film!

    Comment by Michi Bothamley — September 17, 2011 @ 2:58 pm

  35. You fail for being so pig headed that you’ll hate a movie before it comes out.

    Comment by Benjamin Eugene NElson — September 19, 2011 @ 8:33 pm

  36. It’s a fact of life, man. Nerds like to complain.

    Comment by RoccoRyg — September 21, 2011 @ 1:14 pm

  37. I’ll wait and see how she plays the part and how the goggles sans ears plays out. I admit I thought nolan was a jackass for casting ledger as the joker, and he was better than I thought; however it doesn’t matter who he casts because you all know he can cast Tyler Perry as cat woman and we will all go watch the train wreck. I think nolan has shown he can care less about what the fan-boys thinks, he’s gonna do his take on it, and still make a pile of money. Let’s just get it over with and hopefully the WB will finally show a universe with the dark knight and the man of steel on the same screen.

    Comment by Itapprentice — September 21, 2011 @ 6:01 pm

  38. And the growling voice was actually Bales idea, so there’s that.

    Comment by Troy Clawson5 — September 23, 2011 @ 10:19 pm

  39. Ok, lets start with the obvious people!  This is a PRODUCTION photo, which will probably have NOTHING to do with the final film.  We don’t know what is going on as we’ve yet to see an actual Theatrical Trailer for the film.  So, without context, this article is bupkis since it doesn’t have any merit on the film itself.  C’mon.  This is just a snapshot in time of Anne Hathaway in a suit with some goggles on sitting on the bat-bike.  Until I actually see a PREVIEW (aka Theatrical Trailer) I’m not holding my breath.  Many comments were made about The Dark Knight when Heath was cast as the Joker.  Look at how many people (critics included) who walked out of the theatre with their feet in their mouths because they doubted Chris’ directing abilities.  So, to all you haters and trolls out there, WAIT until the movie comes out in summer of 2012 and THEN make your opinions.  Don’t waste time on stupid production photos like this.  They don’t tell you anything.

    Comment by Russell Warren Waddel — September 25, 2011 @ 1:16 pm

  40. Here’s a thought…Batman: the animated series used that “growling voice” first.  They wanted Batman to have a somewhat different voice than Bruce Wayne.  Obviously he wouldn’t want people to know WHO he was.  If the general populace knew who he was then he would be useless as a symbol.  People would just say “there’s bruce wayne dressin’ up again.”  Ergo, the voice of Batman is different.  I’m surprised that in Spiderman Mary Jane didn’t recognize Peter sooner, since he didn’t disguise his voice.  It will be interesting to see what they do with Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman.  But, I digress.  People may have their own interpretations of “who’s Batman is better.”  I say, they are all great!  Except George Clooney.   Really horrible.  Just abysmal.  Other than that, they are all great Batmans. 

    Comment by Russell Warren Waddel — September 25, 2011 @ 1:23 pm

  41. I may not see this movie specifically because Anne Hathaway was cast as cat woman. Sorry…but in my opinion she is suppose to have a sort of slinky sex appeal like a cat and right away Anne H. does not fit that description. Not once have I ever looked at Anne H. and thought “wow, if I was a guy I would totally bone her”. One of my favorite comic book characters seems to be totally ruined by who was cast and by the lame costume…

    Comment by Tiera Branch — November 19, 2011 @ 4:20 pm

  42. actually the growling bat voice was tim burtons idea for the original batman movie and has stuck ever since in all continuities

    Comment by Andrew Cole — December 18, 2011 @ 11:41 am

  43. the costume in the first two batman movies wasn’t messed with it was very much as expected at the time for armour it was the later movies which screwed with it.

    Comment by Andrew Cole — December 18, 2011 @ 11:43 am

  44. You obviously didn’t see her in Get Smart, and you’re gay

    Comment by BK Alley — December 19, 2011 @ 2:00 pm

  45. I’m gonna have to concur w/ BK Alley (though the gay comment was much lol) I have gay friends that think she’s hot for f*&%s sake…if u wonder about her slinky sex appealwatch Love and Other Drugs with Jake Glylenhal she may have had Parkinsons in it but she was hella hot in it and she is a classically trained dancer which on Get Smart it shows her moving and slinking around the lazers she’s gonna kill it remember with everyone bitched about it In Nolan We Trust

    Comment by Punktu8 — December 19, 2011 @ 5:24 pm

  46. I believe it’s actually Frank Miller’s idea from Batman: Year One

    Comment by worm — February 29, 2012 @ 3:33 am

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