Matt Reeves Reveals Major Catwoman & Riddler Connection In ‘The Batman’

Catwoman and the Riddler have some shared history.

The Batman Selina Kyle Catwoman Zoe Kravitz Matt Reeves The Dark Knight Rises

The Batman director Matt Reeves has revealed new details of Selina Kyle’s backstory, including a connection to Paul Dano’s Riddler.

Zoë Kravitz plays the newest cinematic iteration of Selina Kyle, A.K.A. Catwoman, in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The story casts Selina as a cat burglar, drug dealer and a waitress in Gotham’s seedy Iceberg Lounge, a club run by Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot, A.K.A. the Penguin, the right-hand man of mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). Selina is also revealed to be the daughter Falcone never knew he had and she wound up alone after Falcone killed her mother. This has led to Selina’s life of crime and struggles to get by on the harsh streets of Gotham.

The latest revelations from Matt Reeves regarding Selina’s backstory delve deeper into her troubled childhood and the class struggle in Gotham City. While it is revealed in The Batman that when Selina was just a child her mother was murdered, not too much is said of what happened to Selina throughout the rest of her childhood. It is clear she learnt to survive on Gotham’s brutal and uncaring streets, but now Reeves has revealed more of the character’s background, including the fact she once lived in the same orphanage as Edward Nashton, who would become the Riddler. According to the book The Art of The Batman, Reeves said:

“Selina’s a survivor. She had to survive on the streets, and she actually lived for part of her childhood in the Gotham Orphanage, just like The Riddler. And so the story’s very much about class as well, and about the luxury of being able to choose to become a vigilante, versus somebody who simply has to find a way to survive in the way that Selina does.”

The class divide in Gotham is fiercely felt throughout The Batman. While anger towards the corruption of those in power fuels the Riddler’s murderous machinations, Selina is also clearly struggling in her life and has no sympathy for Gotham’s upper classes, including Bruce Wayne, whose privilege she calls out at one point. While not revealed in the film, the backstory devised by Matt Reeves clearly informed the character of Selina Kyle.

Here is the synopsis for Matt Reeves’ The Batman:

Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as the titular hero and Bruce Wayne, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, with Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, and Barry Keoghan as The Joker.

The Batman is now available to own digitally and streaming exclusively on HBO Max, with physical media dropping on May 24. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the future of Matt Reeves’ franchise and Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, and subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: The Art of The Batman (via ComicBook.com)