The portrayal of Selina Kyle in the seminal Batman story "Year One" played a huge role in actor Zoë Kravitz's interpretation of Catwoman in The Batman, director Matt Reeves revealed.
"I would say that Zoë's process ... when we met, I just knew that you thought so deeply about the character," Reeves said at a press event attended by CBR. "That, for me, was so exciting. There were images literally from the comic books that she was like, 'God, if we could do this moment.' There was stuff from Year One, and there was literally, 'Can we do this image?' I was like, 'Let me see if we can do this image,' and we would do that kind of stuff. There were certain things that are some of my favorite moments of lines in the movie, and they're yours."
Reeves went on to discuss Catwoman's tendency to take in homeless felines -- a character trait present in "Year One," where Selina always has a host of cats in her apartment -- as well as the film. A scene with Batman and Catwoman standing in the latter's apartment can be seen in one of the movie's trailers, and Kravitz specifically says: "I have a thing about strays."
"We talked a lot about the cats," Reeves said. "We were talking about this notion of the background that she comes from and what her life was, and that, in essence, because she was essentially an orphan as well, that she was a stray, and that she was collecting cats because now she's decided she's going to protect strays."
"Year One," written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzucchelli, was released in 1987. In the story, Selina Kyle is initially portrayed as a dominatrix working in Gotham City's seedy red-light district. Her desire to protect strays encompasses both cats and people, and she cares for a child prostitute named Holly Robinson. A chance encounter with a disguised Bruce Wayne causes her to attack her abusive pimp, leave her job and take Holly with her. After Bruce hits the streets as Batman, Selina is inspired to fashion her own nighttime outfit, becoming the cat burglar and occasional anti-hero known as Catwoman. Following "Year One," Selina's backstory and relationship with Batman was elaborated upon in mini-series such as Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween, which also influenced Reeves' noirish take on the Batman mythos.
The Batman will follow a younger Bruce Wayne, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, who is only in his second year of vigilantism. The film debuts in theaters on March 4.