As I'm sure everyone and their grandmother is now aware Anne Hathaway has been cast in the iconic role of Catwoman. This came as a bit of a surprise to the fan community in many ways. Recent rumors had indicated that the main female character in The Dark Knight Rises would be Talia Al Ghul, or Vicki Vale. While Catwoman was not completely off the radar of fan boys (or fan girls) she certainly was not the most expected femme fatale to join the Dark Knight in Christopher Nolan’s final installment of the Batman franchise. With the announcement that Anne Hathaway would play Selina Kyle Twitter exploded, with many of the comments being less than positive.
Many comments were made for why people did not support the casting choice. Some said that Miss Hathaway was too girl next door and did not share the same qualities as Selina Kyle, others simply stated that they did not think that Anne Hathaway was 'sexy' enough to play the role.
As soon as I heard the announcement I knew that the fan community was going to go into a rampage. We have seen this many times before and we will see it again. Recent fan complaints of actors being chosen for a comic book role include Chris Evans being chosen as Captain America, Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, and Seth Rogen as Green Hornet.
While at least one of the actors deserved the criticism that he received (Here's looking at you Mr. Rogen) in my opinion others have not. While we have not gotten the chance to see Chris Evans or Ryan Reynolds in full action in their upcoming films, certain fans have began to warm up to the idea of the actors taking on the iconic roles (This does not apply to every fan and refers more to the shifting of opinion about Chris Evans).
Now, onto the topic at hand. Should we worry about Anne Hathaway being cast as the Princess of Plunder? I say no. The last time the majority of the fan community complained about a certain actor being hired to play a villain in a Batman movie they were left stunned with Heath Ledger's oscar winning performance. While it is not known whether Catwoman will have more of a villainess role in The Dark Knight Rises, or if she will be an ally to Batman, it is a good guess in my mind that she will represent the grey area to the Caped Crusaders life that Batman is not comfortable with.
If we are going to talk about the positive casting choices that Christopher Nolan has given us then we must also talk about the negatives. In Batman Begins many were disappointed with Katie Holmes portrayal of Rachel Dawes. In The Dark Knight she was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was seen by many to be a vast improvement over Holmes. The fact does remain though that many were still disappointed by Gyllenhaal's portrayal as well. So if we begin to think about it the true complaint that many fans have had over the rebooted Batman series has been the main female character of the series. One has to wonder will this weakness carry into the third Batman film of this trilogy?
I truly believe that Christopher Nolan knows how dangerous it was for him to take on a third Batman film. The main reason for it being, as stated by many of the cast and crew, is that there are not many (if any) films in a trilogy where the third film was better than the second. Nolan is a film maker though, and a damn good one I might add. He wants a great film, he wants a great trilogy, he wants to do better than The Dark Knight. If he did not believe he could do this then I do not believe he would have taken on the project. Keeping this in mind and with Nolan knowing how iconic the character of Catwoman is, it is a smart bet that he was incredibly careful in this casting choice. He wanted to make sure that he chose the very best person possible to portray Batman's most popular love interest.
Now, regarding Anne Hathaway being 'sexy' enough for the role and portraying a seductive character, there are a few important things to remember. The first thing that I think many people do not understand is that just because someone has not portrayed certain characteristics does not mean that they are not capable of doing so. In fact I say it is foolish to think that way. An example I will give is that when a new character is needed for a film from the comics fans will automatically pick actors who have played someone similar to the comic book character that is being searched for. For instance if a character is needed that is a soldier in the comics fans will automatically start to name actors that have portrayed soldiers. Or if an actor usually plays a heroic character but has never played a villain then fans think it is impossible for that actor to portray a villain and go into a frenzy if they are chosen for the part. The truth is that many people end up looking just plain silly (That's actually me putting it nicely) in their comments and very ignorant. I say that just because Anne hasn't played a seductress doesn't mean that she will not have nerds everywhere fantasizing about her after they see her portrayal on the big screen.
The question in my mind simply comes down to has Christopher Nolan disappointed you in his last two films? If you say yes then the Nolan films probably do not represent your idea of who Batman and his villains are in your mind. While I respect that I disagree and have to say that Christopher Nolan has spearheaded my favorite comic book franchise. If you did not like the last two Batman films then there is a good chance that you were not going to like The Dark Knight Rises, no matter who was cast in the role.
So I say that we should all try and keep an open mind like I am. If you can do this then when the film does come out, and if you are surprised by the portrayal of Catwoman, then you can say you were one of the ones who did not get on the message boards and criticize Anne Hathaway before you even saw her in a trailer. Honestly though, this is the internet, and people are going to complain, either because they are too stupid to have an open mind, or because they simply have nothing better to do than complain.