The Dark Night Rises Casting

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Pictures announced the partial (but by no means complete) cast of Christopher Nolan's next installment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises.  Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle, more popularly known as Catwoman, and Tom Hardy will play the muscular villain Bane.

It should come as no shock to you that this casting announcement has created some serious, and not necessarily positive, buzz amongst Batman fans--most of it being that these are poor character choices ("I wanted Poison Ivy, the Riddler, etc."), or that Anne Hathaway is the wrong actress to play such a pivotal character as Catwoman.  Having had a few days to consider it, I'd like to address these concerns.

First of all, the characters:

We're all familiar with Catwoman.  Her most famous TV/film incarnations include Eartha Kitt opposite Adam West in the 1960s Batman TV show, Michelle Pfeiffer  in Tim Burton's 1992 film, Batman Begins, and Halle Berry in the failed 2004 spinoff movie Catwoman.  All of these actresses portrayed Selina Kyle/Catwoman in very different ways: Kitt--campy, Pfeiffer--sensual and empowering, Berry--a hot mess. 

So, it's fair to say that there is no one right way to interpret this character, and we shouldn't just assume that this new incarnation of Kyle will be a ripoff of any of the formerly mentioned portrayals.  Furthermore, the announcement did not mention Catwoman at all, implying that Hathaway will likely be playing Selina Kyle before she becomes the infamous anti-hero.  This makes sense considering Nolan's comparatively realistic approach to the Batman canon.

As for Bane, he's a bit less familiar to casual fans of the Batman series.  The average movie-goer probably knows him best as Poison Ivy's muscle-man sidekick in the unintentionally hilarious 1997 film, Batman and Robin.

Seriously?

But to serious comic book fans, he is much more than just the brawns--he also has brains.  In the comics, he is considered one of Batman's most formidable opponents and is most famous for discovering Batman's secret identity and breaking his back, thus rendering the caped-crusader a paraplegic.  Bane should be an interesting departure from Nolan's previous Batman villains in that he is simply a much stronger aggressor.  In Batman Begins, Bruce was tested psychologically.  In The Dark Knight, he was tested emotionally, and it is fair to assume that in The Dark Knight Rises, he will be tested physically.

As for the actors themselves, I think it's too early to judge (although that's not stopping most fans).  It seems clichéd at this point, but pretty much everyone doubted Heath Ledger would be able to pull off the Joker, and he ended up winning an Oscar for that portrayal.  So, we shouldn't be so quick to doubt Anne Hathaway.  She is certainly not the obvious choice, i.e.: not a "sex-kitten" (get it?), but who wants another Halle Berry-type Catwoman?  Or to put it more bluntly, who wants The Dark Night Rises starring Megan Fox?  Most importantly, we cannot yet judge if Hathaway is a good fit for the character because we don't know what the character is going to be like.  Nolan's Batman series makes a habit out of reinterpreting characters, meaning that we should throw any preconceived notions we have of Catwoman out the door.

Tom Hardy, on the other hand, has not faced quite the same level of disapproval from fans. This is probably due to a number of things.  First, Nolan announced back in November that he would have a role (although he did not specify which role) in the upcoming Batman film, so fans have had time to process his involvement.  Second, he's still riding high off of the popularity of his most recent film Inception, also directed by Nolan.  So, many fans have come to like him and know that he and Nolan work well together.  Third, physically speaking, he is perfect for the role.  

Hardy (right) has two tickets to the gun show.

Fourth and finally, Nolan generally does a lot better with male characters than female, so there's less to worry about with Bane.  I'm not saying Nolan is sexist, just that he has a habit of writing very stereotypical women and/or killing them off as a plot device.  If there's anything about this film that I'm concerned with thus far, it's that Catwoman may be a weak character--not because of Hathaway's acting, but because of Nolan's near ineptitude at creating three-dimensional female characters.

That being said, I'm excited about the cast and characters.  There's great potential within everyone involved to create a movie that can actually live up to The Dark Night.  And this is just the beginning.  We still know nothing about the plot, the other characters involved (will Aaron Eckhart be reprising his role as Two-Face?) or even if this is the final film in the series.  When you put it in that perspective, we know so little about this film.  Critiquing and scrutinizing these early casting decisions is like judging a painting based on the canvas alone.  Anyway, we're all going to go crazy for this movie once the viral marketing campaign starts, so who cares?  Let's save the judgment at least until we get a trailer.  Life is too short to complain about Catwoman.