Robert Pattinson has been confirmed for the title role in The Batman for quite a while now and slowly but surely, his supporting cast is beginning to take shape. In recent weeks, we’ve learned that Jeffrey Wright will be playing Commissioner Jim Gordon and Jonah Hill is apparently eyeing a villain role yet to be revealed – though it could be the Penguin or the Riddler.
One part that folks had been eagerly waiting to hear an update on is Catwoman. While many actresses have added to her legacy over the past few decades, the Selina Kyle that fans have come to love from the comics hasn’t really been fully adapted to film yet. Some iterations embodied specific character traits, while some gave us others, but we’re still waiting to see them all come together and hopefully, The Batman will give us just that as it’s now found an actress to bring the character to life.
According to Deadline, Zoe Kravitz has snagged the part, with The Hollywood Reporter saying that she beat out several other talented individuals, including Ana de Armas, Ella Balinska and Eiza Gonzalez. And though she may not have been most people’s first choice for Selina Kyle, Kravitz is far from a bad pick.
Of course, the cries of “Catwoman needs to be white” have already begun to pour out on Twitter, but we must remember that the character exists in a grey area as far as ethnicity goes. True, most iterations have been Caucasian, but we’ve also seen two previous actresses of color bring the role to life, those being Halle Berry and Eartha Kitt.
Also, let’s not forget that Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli gave us a black Selina in their Batman: Year One comic book, before subsequent creators changed her back to being white. Not to mention that quite frankly, race really shouldn’t matter. If Matt Reeves and WB feel that Kravitz is the best person for the job in The Batman, then we should trust them. After all, while the studio’s DC movies may not always find success, their casting choices are often pretty good.