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Founder & former Editor-In-Chief of The Cinema Spot | NYU Journalism | Twitter: @prestoncmoore
Every Friday, we assemble 3 of our talented writers at Geek Motivation to battle it out in a Fancast. They get a character, and they’re tasked with casting the perfect actor. After that, we post a poll on our Twitter account for you to vote for your favorite. This week’s character is CATWOMAN!
JAMES HOWEY – REBECCA FERGUSON
Catwoman is one of the most crucial members of Batman’s rogues gallery and has been portrayed well by both Anne Hathaway and Michelle Pfeifer, but has yet to receive that one performance people look at as the definitive Selina Kyle. Rebecca Ferguson could be that decisive performance for the DCEU.
Ferguson, 33 is an up-and-coming actress that has super star potential written all over her. Catwoman would truly be her breakthrough role. She is the right age for an older, but still relatively young, Catwoman compared to Ben Affleck’s 44 year old Batman. Ferguson has been a standout in films like Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, The Girl on the Train and most recently Life. Her mysterious role in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation just screams Catwoman when you watch it.
She has the look and physical appearance of Catwoman as well. Ferguson has shown the ability to act and pull off action scenes at a high level in her films. She can bring both a grittiness and sexiness to the character, which is what so many people want from a Selina Kyle.
There were a number of rumors saying she was the frontrunner to play Captain Marvel before the role was given to Brie Larson. I think she would fit even better into the darker DCEU as one of the most important and influential DC female characters. She would be perfect as the leader of the Gotham Sirens as the brain of the operation with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Ferguson would interact well with Margot Robbie and whoever plays Ivy (hopefully Jessica Chastain). She can capture the duality of Catwoman with both the goodness and mischievousness the character has always been about.
She and Affleck working together has the potential for an amazing dynamic. Ferguson also has the chops to lead a standalone Catwoman film down the line with her own story. Overall, I think she can bring stability to the role of Catwoman and be a powerhouse in the DCEU.
ANDREW VALENCIA – EVA MENDES
The talented and beautiful Eva Mendes, a 43 year old Cuban-American actress who may or may not be retired. She’s a perfect choice for the complicated and nuanced role of Selina Kyle, who’s coming very soon to the DC Extended Universe.
Catwoman is an exceptional character. She’s mysterious and prone to crime like a villain, she’s noble and admirable like a hero, and she has a violent internal struggle between the two like a real human being. It takes some extraordinary skill to portray a heroic femme fatale like Selina Kyle, especially when the role has already been captured brilliantly. Michelle Pfeiffer played a lonely, sad character who became a villain and was then redeemed by helping Batman. Anne Hathaway played a character who was somewhat the same, save for the loneliness. She’s a villain who gains redemption by realizing the nobility in helping Batman. A Catwoman in the DCEU would be remarkably different, mainly because these specific events that we know about her, have already happened.
In the DCEU, Batman is somewhere in his 40’s, and it’d be nice to imply that the Bat and the Cat have had a long history. This Selina should not only be familiar with Robin, but sympathetic with Bruce over his loss. As for chemistry with the Gotham City Sirens, Margot Robbie, the only confirmed actress, is considerably younger at 26 years old. This would make sense considering Harley Quinn has always been a late addition to Batman’s rogues gallery. Jessica Chastain has been a fan favorite for Poison Ivy, and she fits the bill in terms of age range. On a side note, I think it’s worth noting the drastic age gap in comic book roles between women and their male counterparts. If Batman and The Joker are in their 40’s, it only makes sense for Catwoman and Poison Ivy to have matured alongside them.
It’s been mentioned before that Selina’s mother was a Cuban woman, making her half Cuban. So call me crazy, the character should be portrayed as such. Not only in the sense of comic book accuracy, but in the sense that the only Latin-American character in the DCEU was a huge stereotype named El Diablo (which doesn’t make him any less badass). It’d be a welcomed change for the film version of the character, and would prevent the role from being extensively compared to Hathaway’s portrayal.
All these things aside, what makes or breaks the character is acting chops. Mendes is known for her knockout good looks, through her extensive modeling and acting career. She’s starred in many movies (Hitch, Training Day, The Spirit, The Other Guys, Ghost Rider, The Place Beyond The Pines, etc.) and has shown tremendous range between a deadly femme fatale and a warm, friendly, inviting woman with a remarkable and enigmatic presence. To bring these elements together is no easy feat for any actress, but Mendes is entirely capable of coming in from left field (or rumored retirement) and stealing the show.
MIKE GUIMOND – OLIVIA WILDE
I think Olivia Wilde would be a choice actress for Catwoman because in one of her most well-know roles as Quorra in Tron: Legacy, she is skillful and aggressive in action, having trained for experience in martial arts for the role. This role is one that gained her much popularity especially amongst geek culture, so her appearing in a Batman film would do the same but even more so. Her portrayal of Sabrina McArdle in the comedy The Change-Up showed her flirtatious side. Finally, she showed her dark side in The Lazarus Effect as Zoe McConnell, showing her aggression instead in insanity. If she can be as evil as she was in that film, she can tune it to the rest of the aspects she has shown of Catwoman’s personality. To me, she also bears a striking resemblance to Michelle Pfeiffer. These are definitive traits of Catwoman and seeing her interacting with Ben Affleck’s Batman would be interesting and enjoyable to see on screen.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite here!
Founder & former Editor-In-Chief of The Cinema Spot | NYU Journalism | Twitter: @prestoncmoore
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