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AND LET IT BE KNOWN

Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy are Catwoman and Bane

by Susana Polo | 2:12 pm, January 19th, 2011

This is not a rumor.  It’s in the freaking New York Times. The Dark Knight Rises will star, among others, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, an Tom Hardy as Bane.

At least we now know, at long last, that Tom Hardy’s beard has nothing to do with his role in TDKR.

So, obviously, there are two things for your local (ok, Geekosystem local) Batman expert to talk about here.  Catwoman, and Bane.

Bane… is a long story.  There’s a lot to talk about there, both in the surprise inclusion of him in the story (Bane had not heretofore been rumored to appear), what the story may mean for him if other rumors are true, and lastly in the whitewashing of his character.  There is a lot to unpack, and I’ll be talking about it later this week, believe me.

Then there’s Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

What we have, in Catwoman, is a character who is an equal to Batman.  Not in crime-fighting power or intellect, but rather in ego.  Selina Kyle doesn’t think that Batman’s considerable reputation is any reason to look upon him with deference.  She loves him, but only very rarely does she allow herself to reach a point where she needs him.

Tl;dr: she’s a cat.

Creating the role of Catwoman is a tall order.  You’ve got to create a completely independent strong female character who tremendous sex appeal without being a slut, and then you’ve got to make her someone who your Batman character (in this case, a deeply driven guy with the money to get any hot chick that he wants who has only shown interest in his childhood sweetheart) could fall in love with.  And on top of that the an actor has to be capable of balancing this strong female character with the fact that she’s a person dressed in a skin-tight leather bodysuit who steals things for a living.  It’s tough.

So… can everyone understand why I’m a little unnerved by the choice of Anne Hathaway, who career is defined by princesses, Prada, and… well.  More princesses.

Okay.  Deep breath.  Christopher Nolan‘s team gave us Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the hub around which all other movies of this era of superhero films revolve.  It is highly unlikely that The Dark Knight Rises will be a bad movie.  I do have faith in Christopher Nolan.  I do.  I do.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Vazquez/100000959831064 Joseph Vazquez

    Great. More over-used characters that have already been on screen. Why wont Hollywood allow non-human characters like Killer Croc or Man-Bat?

  • Hate, Y U No Love?

    “non-human” characters don’t exactly fit w/ Nolan’s theme. I don’t mean to be trollish toward you, but every single person that says ‘Man-Bat! Mr Freeze! Poison Ivy!’ really and truly missed the concept behind Batman Begins and Dark Knight.
    Though Killer Croc could still be plausible… just as Bane is plausible in Nolan’s world.
    I hate Bane to death… though I also have to debate how he’s ever been ‘over-used’. One horrendous movie where he’s a wordless henchman is hardly ‘over-used’.
    I’m kind of pulling for the Hugo Strange angle still… maybe Nolan will somehow incorporate Bane into it?
    “Strange ends up escalating the scales against Batman by brainwashing a police officer to become a violent vigilante, framing Batman for kidnapping the Mayor’s daughter”

    Nothing says that the police officer couldn’t be Bane?

  • Anonymous

    I’m going to dispute your description of Anne Hathaway’s career a bit. Dig a little deeper. No guarantee she’ll be the perfect Catwoman, but there’s no reason to assume she can’t be.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Vazquez/100000959831064 Joseph Vazquez

    The first two Nolan Batman films were great, and I understand he is trying to make his Batman a character that exists in the realm of reality without much slack for fantasy. Still, after six theatrical releases it would be nice to see one of the more imaginative villains brought to life.

  • Megantastic

    You should check out Hathaway’s turn in Rachel Getting Married or rewatch Brokeback Mountain before you completely write her off as a princess.

  • BeauLove50

    I’m very intrigued with Hathoway’s casting. At the very least, we have an opportunity to see something different out of an A-List star. If Jolie were cast, we know exactly what we would get. Where is the excitement?? Hathoway is a rare wild card with a lot of buzz. She has played comedic, dramatic, and character roles and in my opinion, she is a very talented actress that could very well be the next Meryl.

    Whether she is going to be great, that is yet to be determined. One thing is for sure, her being cast is going to be more exciting than Jolie, Knightley, or Garner.


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