Catwoman could become a villain inThe Batman - Part IIafter the latest twist in Matt Reeves' universe. Catwoman is one ofDC’s most famous antiheroes. While she is known for her impressive burglary and fighting skills, Selina Kyle is often an ally and love interest for Bruce Wayne. She may not have the same high moral standards as Batman, but she doesn’t hurt innocent people, and often helps Batman take down many of Gotham’s worst villains - walking a fine line between hero and villain that usually doesn’t lean too far into either territory.
Previous incarnations of Catwoman - such asMichelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman fromBatman Returnsand Anne Hathaway’s iteration inThe Dark Knight Rises -were Batman’s love interests, antagonists, and eventual allies. InThe Batman’s cast, Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman has a similarly complicated relationship with the Caped Crusader. While they work together to defeat Carmine Falcone, Catwoman is motivated by pure vengeance, and Batman has to prevent her from killing him. While Batman saved her from crossing the line then,The Penguin’s endingcould turn Selina into a villain.
The Penguin Sets Up A Surprising Team-Up For DC’s Future
Selina Kyle and Sofia Falcone could be a powerful duo.
One of the best parts ofThe Penguinis the introduction of Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone. After wrongly spending a decade in Arkham and being labeled “The Hangman,” Sofia is released from prison following her father’s death. With no family left after Oswald kills her brother, Sofia is determined to get revenge on those who wronged her and build an empire of her own. Sofia is a sympathetic character after seeing what her father did to her, but her methods still involve violence and murder.
How The Penguin’s Finale Ties into The Batman II
The Penguin solves a lot of big questions fans had, but it also lays the groundwork for The Batman Part II.
As it transpires, her war closes inThe Penguinwith Sofia Falcone returning to Arkham after Oswald gets her arrested and frames her for Salvatore Maroni’s murder. While all seems hopeless for Sofia, she receives a letter in Arkham from her half-sister, Selina Kyle.The Batmanends with Selina leaving Gotham, but she could return to free her sister from the horrors of Arkham.Sofia is an intriguing villain who audiences want to see more of, and a potential team-up with Selina would be an amazing dynamic forThe Batman - Part II.
Why Catwoman Freeing Sofia Makes Sense
Catwoman and Sofia could fight Gotham’s criminal underworld together.
Selina and Sofia would make an interesting team since they share the same trauma and motivations, but with drastically different backstories. Selina was raised by her mother, who worked for Carmine Falcone at the Iceberg Lounge, with Carmine not involved in her upbringing. Selina’s mother was killed by Carmine, and Selina went to social services, rather than Falcone taking responsibility for her. Comparatively, Sofia was raised by Carmine and enjoyed all the benefits of being a Falcone. However, Sofia would later find out later that her father also killed her mother too, and framed her death as a suicide.
After Sofia confronted him about her mother’s death, Carmine sent Sofia to Arkham Asylum, where she stayed for more than a decade. Selina and Sofia are both characters who were abandoned and abused by their father. They both have a hatred for a system that continues to silence and threaten women, and the two would be the perfect pair to team up and dismantle Gotham’s criminal world. Since their forms of justice are more morally ambiguous, this could put them in confrontation with Batman, pitting Selina and Bruce against each other.
Catwoman Freeing Sofia Would Continue A Huge Batman Story
The Batman - Part II is already set to have similar themes compared to the first film.
The Batmanhas many themes, but an essential one is how people are often victims of their environment. Bruce is an inspiration for the Riddler, both as a target and as a hero, as the antagonist grew up in an orphanage and was envious and resentful toward Bruce, who was also an orphan but had the benefit of being the heir to the Wayne fortune.
However, Bruce’s actions as Batman inspired the Riddler to take vengeance on the corrupt elite in Gotham who he saw as making everything worse for the people below them. A parallel between the two can be seen in some capacity with Sofia and Selina, with their differences largely coming from how contrasting their upbringings were in many ways, although both appear to ultimately want a lot of the same things.
Sofia is a dark reflection of Batman. A wealthy individual with a tragic background who uses her newfound power and autonomy to get revenge on her enemies. Batman initially had the same idea, taking out his anger toward his parent’s death on Gotham criminals. It isn’t untilthe end ofThe Batmanthat he sees he should be a hero and a symbol of hope for Gotham, rather than a beacon of fear and vengeance.The Batman - Part IIcan expand on these themes by forcing Batman to confront Sofia and Selina’s dark version of justice.
The Batman Part II
Cast
The Batman Part II is the sequel to Matt Reeve’s The Batman, released in 2022, and will continue where the original film left off. The film shares a universe with the HBO Max original Penguin series and sees the return of the Riddler and a different incarnation of the Joker.
