Me No Likey - Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Warner Bros. announced via press release this morning that director Christopher Nolan has cast Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in his third and final Batman opus The Dark Knight Rises. For those who don’t know their Batman lore, Selina Kyle is Catwoman’s alter-ego, although curiously, the press release makes no mention of the word “Catwoman.” And in something of a surprise, Nolan also announced today that his Inception actor Tom Hardy will play the villain Bane, a more recent addition to Batman’s storied rogues gallery.

He made a big splash in the Batman comics by breaking Bruce Wayne’s back in 1993.

I am Bane -- and I could kill you... but death would only end your agony -- and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply... break you!

I would say that Batman's injury had a severe affect to my psyche.  I graduated high school in 1993 and when this happened I remember not sleeping and thinking the world was unsafe.  Batman had been around as a protector for so long and even though minor characters could be killed not the main one.  At the time it wasn't said if Batman had died or not and you were left to wonder.  I remember at school the raging debates about if Batman had died or if he was a paraplegic and if he was a paraplegic if he would be one for life.  The only thing that could rival this was Rorshach's death in Watchmen which caused a major depression for me.  This got fixed quickly as Batman passed the mantel to someone else while he healed but since I didn't buy my own comics and got them from the boys at school it was a rough time until I figured things out.

I don't really like Bane because of this and wish he didn't exist.  That being said if they can get this character right with the Venom addiction and his father issues it would be a supreme character.  I'm kind of proud of what they did with The Joker since many don't get his mania and write him off as a jackal in a costume but the Joker totally believes in anarchy and really wants to destroy the world just to see it burn.

Tom Hardy seems a little stiff to be Bane but that could be made to work for him so I'll give TH an eyeball on this one since I'll be watching him.

Now for the other hand.  Anne Hathaway is pretty with a geeky, sarcastic vibe that I really dig.  The problem is that Selena Kyle is a sophisticated kitten who happens to be either an abused wife who fought back and went into a life of crime for fun or a head injury victim (all flight attendants know to watch out for those overhead bins) who went into a life of crime for fun.  Either way this woman is able to be a LONG STANDING love interest to the reclusive Bat.  He even fantasizes about her when she is not around.  I can't imagine AH being that much of an interest to any rich playboy her fake rich ex-boyfriend/fiancee Raffaello Follieri aside. 

I think it's a Black Swan type of situation.  I just can't see AH outside of the goody two-shoe box and either this role will mark her as a multi-talented actress or put her firmly in her place.

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