The Batman: Anne Hathaway offers Zoë Kravitz advice for playing Catwoman

Zoë Kravitz will portray Catwoman in The Batman and Anne Hathaway offered praise and advice to the star on how to play the role.

Catwoman has become a major screen presence over the past half-century. The character made her silver screen debut back in the 1966 film spin-off of the Batman TV show in which she was played by Lee Meriwether (who took over from Julie Newmar). She was then played by Michelle Pfeiffer in an unforgettable return in 1992’s Batman Returns. Halle Berry had less success in 2004’s ill-fated Catwoman and Anne Hathaway was well-received when she took on the role in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

Selina Kyle will next return to cinemas in Matt Reeves’ The Batman (which is now set for a March 2022 release) and, this time, she will be brought to life by Zoë Kravitz.

Taking on such a huge role with so much history behind her is undoubtedly a tall task, and it’s a tall task that Anne Hathaway is very familiar with – so much so that she offered some valuable advice to Kravitz for when she takes on the iconic part.

During promotion for The Witches, Hathaway spoke to Collider. During that chat, she was asked if she could give any advice to Kravitz, to which she responded:

"“You saw the picture of her coming down those stairs, right? Yeah, she doesn’t need my advice.”"

Undoubtedly a well-deserved seal of approval from Kravitz’s predecessor, Hathaway followed up on that by offering a nugget of wisdom that she obtained through playing Selina in The Dark Knight Rises – and later through playing the Grand High Witch in The Witches.

"“If I had any advice it would be literally don’t listen to anybody because I think the only way to play that role is to give your version of it… And all the Jokers were specific to each director they have, and so I don’t think you can get too bogged down with the comparison. And especially when you’re not the one doing it because your job is to give yours. And I’m so excited to see what she does with it. I thought she was a perfect choice.”"

Hathaway certainly isn’t wrong. Like she said, many iconic actors have tackled previous versions of Batman’s rogues gallery of villains over the years and all of them gave their own unique interpretation of the characters.

That’s particularly clear with Catwoman, too. What’s also particularly clear is that Kravitz is going to nail the role – something that Hathaway herself is already well-aware of.

Roll on 2022!

Are you looking forward to seeing Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman in The Batman? Let us know in the comments below!