Anne Hathaway: Catwoman spinoff? Sure!

Published on December 5, 2012 04:52PM EST

Anne Hathaway was by far the most consistently entertaining part of The Dark Knight Rises, with her slinky don’t-call-her-Catwoman bringing a much-needed dose of levity to the dour epic. (You’ll recall that she symbolized the poor or something, and that she was hunting for a magic Google-wiping computer virus. Just go with it.) Hathaway is currently making the rounds for Les Miserables, so what better time to ask her about the abstract possibility of a Catwoman spinoff? Access Hollywood asked Hathaway if she’d like to revisit the character, and after noting outright that “No one’s talked to me about it,” Hathaway offered a rather heartfelt plea for a return visit to Gotham:

I would love it. I actually, it’s so embarrassing, I was at a press Q & A thing the other night for a screening of The Dark Knight, and the moderator asked me, “So what was it like to say goodbye to the character?” And I burst into tears, because I miss her. It just makes me cry. I miss her. I love Selena so much and I love her presence in my life and getting to… I’m crying again. So assuming there was enough Kleenex in the world, I would love to do a spin-off.

Gotcha! Well, the idea of a spin-off is problematic for a few reasons — SPOILER ALERT if you are literally the only person who never saw Dark Knight Rises, in which case how could this post possibly interest you anyways — mainly because DKR ends with Selina Kyle hanging with her apparent new paramour Bruce Wayne, preparing to begin a new life of cafe-hopping in Europe. Additionally, Warner Bros. seems generally more focused on pumping up their big-name characters in the service of an eventual Justice League movie; it would be a strange time to craft a spinoff around a supporting character. Also, there’s the tiny matter of Catwoman, the infamous 2004 flop starring Halle Berry, which has such a toxic reputation that absolutely no one attached to DKR ever referred to Catwoman as Catwoman.

Still, Hathaway was really good in the role. And if the Oscar buzz around her Les Miz performance bears fruit, she could be holding an Academy Award in a few months… which could, in turn, make the prospect of building a franchise around her more attractive to Hollywood.

It’s entirely possible to imagine a Catwoman movie which prequelizes the character — Catwoman Begins, basically — or a film that outright ignores the events of Dark Knight Rises. Certainly, Selina Kyle could make a fun lead: She’s much less straight-up heroic (and much more fun) than the typical costumed protagonist. Plus, post-Hunger Games, Hollywood suddenly seems willing to build a blockbuster franchise around a female lead who isn’t Angelina Jolie.

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