Since her first appearance as an antihero in the first Batman novel in 1940, Catwoman has had a continuous character arc. In addition to being schizophrenic, amnesiac flight attendant, dominatrix sex worker, and ethically ambiguous jewel thieve, Selina Kyle has been depicted as everything from a bisexual criminal lord to a criminal lord in bisexual clothing. She is depicted as a black woman in two films and one television show.
Catwoman’s past does not prevent her from identifying as a black woman today. Selina Kyle has casually and occasionally passed for an African American over the years, demonstrating that casting without regard for race is unproblematic.
The actress Eartha Kitt (Batman 1967)
Eartha Kitt was cast as Catwoman on ABC in December 1967 as part of the network’s colorblind casting experiment.
Eartha Kitt played Catwoman for the first time in the original Batman series. Ms. Kitt, real name Eartha Mae Keith, was a sophisticated and multi-talented artist who danced with the Katherine Dunham Company, starred in Orson Welles’ The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus, sang holiday favorites like “Santa Baby,” and spoke four languages.
She was a Catwoman before she was Catwoman, according to Batman associate producer Charles Fitzsimons. Her demeanor was distinctly feline. Her voice sounded like a meow, and her eyes were cat-like. It was a brilliant, out-of-the-box idea to do it with a black woman. Television and movies coexist peacefully outside of the canon and continuity norms adopted by comic book fans. Throughout her on-screen career, Eartha Kitt’s Catwoman was not without criticism.
Batman resolved the amorous tension between its title hero and the first African-American Catwoman eleven months before Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura exchanged the first interracial kiss on Star Trek. In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court recently overturned the country’s anti-miscegenation laws.
Catwoman, Kitt’s alluring cat, stayed true to form, purring all of her rolling R’s through clenched teeth, caressing cats on a leopard-print throne, and putting on a properly feline act. Catwoman attempts to steal the most valuable outfit in the world from a royal in the episode “Catwoman’s Dressed to Kill.” Catwoman believes the garment is made of 24-karat gold cloth, the most expensive material in the world.
Halle Berry(Catwoman 2004)
Halle Berry was the first African American actress to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in 2001’s Monster’s Ball, and she later accepted it again. A few years later, she honed her acting skills by starring in the film Catwoman. The film was directed by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Pitof, who described it as the origin story of a heroine with almost no ties to the DC Comics source material.
Patience Phillips is a mild-mannered worker for a cosmetics company with an unscrupulous top executive on the verge of unleashing a toxic beauty cream. Phillips does not live in Gotham City. That means no Batman appears or is mentioned in the film. She has a crush on a detective who does not have a clue about her identity. To add to the plot, she was saved from death by a cat which may have been a messenger of the Egyptian deity Bastet. She gains abilities that Selina Kyle did not have, such as improved agility, enhanced senses, and the ability to leap enormous distances and fit through tight spaces seen in prisons. Catwoman’s acrobatics and scorching music have arrived to exact her vengeance.
Zoe Kravitz (Batman 2022)
Catwoman is played by Zoe Kravitz in Christopher Nolan’s darkest and most dramatic film portrayal of the character to date. In Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer dominated the role of Catwoman. Anne Hathaway’s equally outstanding performance as Selina Kyle, who was never referred to as Catwoman, led to the emotional conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy in The Dark Knight Rises. Selina Kyle is played by Zo Kravitz, who is more akin to a femme fatale from a Damon Runyon noir in The Batman.
Kravitz’s Catwoman and Pattinson’s Batman share their first on-screen kiss, thanks to their sizzling on-screen chemistry. As she collaborates with the world’s top investigator to figure out who the Riddler is targeting and why, her connections to the criminal underworld become far more extensive than anyone could have predicted. She works as a waitress at the Penguin’s dark 44 Below nightclub, but her ties to the criminal underworld are far more extensive. In The Batman, she works with the world’s best detective to figure out who the Riddler is.
In the film, Selina Kyle goes on a rant against white privilege while the Riddler searches the internet for Patriot Boys impersonators. Zo Kravitz’s character will hopefully get to use a few more of her nine lives in the upcoming sequels.
Wrap-Up
Catwoman has consistently proven that she deserves the reputation of being a villain who is both vile and terrifying since her introduction into the DC Universe several decades ago. This renown dates back to the first time she was introduced to the public. She possesses a sharp intellect, an unbreakable will, and, in most cases, she is more physically capable than the heroes she opposes. She is a captivating and enigmatic figure, and it can be difficult to understand what she is attempting to communicate at times. Catwoman, despite being a morally decent citizen on the whole, engages in questionable activities on a regular basis for questionable reasons. She is a multifaceted villain who uses deception and cunning to accomplish the goals she sets for herself in order to realize her ambitions. She is a villain who is determined to achieve her goals. It may be difficult to understand what she is saying while she is speaking, and even if you do, you may find it difficult to put much stock in what she has to say. They are excellent casting candidates for the role of Catwoman because they have previously portrayed some of DC Comics’ most dynamic and complex characters. Catwoman has been played by black women in both films and comic books. It is difficult to categorize these characters due to the intensity of their personalities and the strength of their personalities. They are intriguing people.