The biggest buzz on the movie pop culture scene is the announcement that Anne Hathaway has been officially cast as Selina Kyle,aka Catwoman,for the next Batman movie. Hathaway is an unusual choice,to be sure,with plenty of raised eyebrows at this decision amongst comic book fans and casual observers alike.
While on the one hand,Anne Hathaway is a talented actress who may be able to pull this off, on the other it is a tad hard to imagine her being a formidable fighting force there.
Stranger things have happened,especially when it comes to Batman movies. No one thought Michael Keaton would be a great Batman when Tim Burton picked him back in the day but his appearances in those films are in some respects legendary today.
Now,if I was doing the casting here,there are a few other actresses that would be seriously in the running. While these ladies may not possess the superstar status that Hathaway does,each one of them has the credentials to portray the feline princess of crime remarkably well.
First up would be Tabrett Bethell,from the sadly too soon canceled fantasy series Legend of the Seeker. As Mord Sith Cara,Bethell provided a solid supporting character in the second season who proved to be more than just a one note bad girl.
Dark humor and wit evened out her cold natured persona and she had excellent emotion range as Cara went from evil hench woman to reformed villianess and beyond. With LOTS no longer in production,it would be a shame not to give this talented lady another juicy role to strut her stuff in:
Another Catwoman contender on my list would be Kate Beckinsale. Yes,she sounds as odd a selection as Hathaway but consider that while Kate has done her time in period pieces,she's also tried her hand at the action movie game as well.
In both of the Underworld films she appeared in(and even as warrior gypsy princess in Van Helsing),Beckinsale really put pedal to the metal when it came to the fisticuffs and had amazing presence while doing so. Yes,she's a Brit but so is Christian Bale and accents can be overcome,folks. Beckinsale might look like Miss Meek and Mild but there's a real badass diva lurking beneath that calm exterior:
Last in our lineup yet far from least is Summer Glau. She's no stranger to genre work,from her days on the short lived Firefly to a brief stint on The 4400 and most recently as a cyborg protector on the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Glau might appear to be the youngest one in the group here(she's 29,around the same age as Tabrett Bethell)but she has racked up quite a few rough and tumble acting chops in her career thus far. Another bonus in choosing her is that she does have a strong fanbase who would be seriously motivated to check her out in Gotham City.
One thing that Glau truly has going for her is the unexpected impact of her fury when unleashed. A slow yet steady build-up that leads to a an all-out battle royale is perfect for such a classic comic book role:
Well,the die has been cast and we'll just have to wait and see how Hathaway does as Catwoman. All things considered,this could have been much worse-at least they didn't pick someone quite that far out of left field like Snooki,Paris Hilton or one of those Old Navy mannequins.
Hathaway is a charmer who is more than capable of handling a character with a dark side and perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised. Hey,just finding out how great she could sing was a nice little pop culture pleasure to behold,so keep a good thought in mind as Anne takes her turn on the Catwoman walk:
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