Catwoman: Every Actress Who Played Selina Kyle

Catwoman is the costumed identity of Selina Kyle, a Gotham City thief who moves between crime and an uneasy understanding with Batman. Her real name is Selina Kyle, although the credits use several labels for her: "The Catwoman (Kitka)" in Batman (1966), "Catwoman / Selina" in Batman Returns, "Selina" in The Dark Knight Rises, "Catwoman (voice)" in The Lego Batman Movie and "Selina Kyle" in The Batman (2022). In the 1966 film she hides behind the alias Miss Kitka, a Russian reporter who gets close to Bruce Wayne.

Five actresses have played Catwoman across these films, in release order. Lee Meriwether plays her in Batman (1966), directed by Leslie H. Martinson. Michelle Pfeiffer takes over in Batman Returns (1992), directed by Tim Burton. Anne Hathaway plays Selina in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), directed by Christopher Nolan. Zoë Kravitz then voices Catwoman in The Lego Batman Movie (2017), directed by Chris McKay, and plays Selina Kyle in The Batman (2022), directed by Matt Reeves.

Pfeiffer took the part in Batman Returns after Annette Bening left the role because of pregnancy, according to Fox News. Eartha Kitt and Halle Berry do not appear in any theatrical Batman film, so neither is among the five actresses who have played Catwoman. For the wider rogues gallery, see the batman villains page, and for the full lineup see batman characters.

Across five films, Catwoman's story runs from a villain in a team of four to a lead who walks away from Gotham on her own terms. In Batman (1966) she joins the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler as the United Underworld, and their dehydration machine is used to kidnap the members of the Security Council. Bruce Wayne grows close to Miss Kitka, and Batman only then discovers that Kitka is really Catwoman.

Batman Returns gives her an origin. Selina Kyle is Max Shreck's assistant, she overhears his plans, and he tries to kill her. She survives and becomes Catwoman, then clashes with Batman while Bruce romances Selina without knowing who she is in costume. By the end she has killed Shreck and refused Bruce's plea to come home.

In The Dark Knight Rises Selina is a cat burglar who steals Bruce's fingerprints, which Bane and John Daggett use to wipe out his fortune. She lures Batman into a trap, and Bane is later killed with her help. The Lego Batman Movie credits Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman (voice), one of the many Gotham rogues in the film.

The Batman (2022) makes her a waitress whose roommate Annika has vanished. She and Batman chase the Riddler's trail toward the same answers, and she discovers that Carmine Falcone is her father and that he killed Annika. Batman stops her from killing him, and Selina leaves Gotham at the end. To follow her across the saga in sequence, use the batman movies in order guide.

Catwoman's central relationship is with Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the films treat it differently every time. Batman (1966) makes it a deception: Bruce falls for Kitka, and Batman learns she is Catwoman only after the heroes fight the Penguin's submarine crew. Batman Returns turns it into a double romance in which Bruce and Selina grow close in civilian life while Batman and Catwoman fight. Bruce finds out the truth by the end, and she refuses to go home with him.

In The Dark Knight Rises she is a wary partner. She lures Batman into a trap, Bane is later killed with her help, and Alfred sees Bruce alive with Selina in a cafe in Florence. In The Batman (2022) she and Batman work toward the same answers, and he stops her from killing Falcone, her father. See bruce wayne for his side of these stories.

Her ties to other characters matter too. In 1966 she works beside the joker, the penguin and the riddler. In Batman Returns her enemy is Shreck, who also deals with the Penguin. In The Batman (2022) the Penguin runs the Iceberg Lounge, where Batman's search leads him, and Selina is the waitress whose roommate has gone missing.

Catwoman's fate differs from film to film, and in three of them she is alive at the close with the door left open. In Batman (1966) the villains are beaten and the Security Council members are restored. In Batman Returns Selina kills Shreck and seems to die herself, but the last shot shows Catwoman alive, looking up at the Bat-Signal.

In The Dark Knight Rises Bane is killed with her help, and Bruce is believed dead while Alfred glimpses him alive with Selina abroad. In The Batman (2022) she stops the Riddler's followers alongside Batman, helps rescue people trapped in the flooded arena, then leaves Gotham. Whether Selina returns to Gotham is a question for the batman part 2.

The best Catwoman scenes are the ones where the film lets her decide something for herself, and in my opinion Batman Returns and The Batman (2022) do that best. The closing shot of Batman Returns, with Catwoman alive and looking up at the Bat-Signal, is the most economical sequel hook in the Burton films, because it needs no dialogue after Bruce has begged her to come home and she has refused.

In The Dark Knight Rises, the Florence cafe sighting works for the opposite reason: it gives Selina a quiet reward after she has helped stop Bane. It could be argued that this is the only film where she ends up with Bruce at all, and that makes it the warmest ending of the five.

In The Batman (2022), the moment she tries to kill Falcone and Batman stops her is the one that defines her version of the character. It is also the clearest answer to whether she is a villain: here she is a person with a personal grievance, not a criminal for hire. The 1966 reveal that Miss Kitka is Catwoman is the other standout, because it makes Bruce's romance with a Russian reporter the setup for the joke.