We should have seen it coming. The questioning of Anne Hathaway's casting as Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises may not have reached the heights of Batfleck, but there were certainly people out there who questioned whether Princess Mia really was the perfect person to play Batman's femme fatale thief. But, just as with 10 Things I Hate About You's Heath Ledger and his appointment as Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime, we needn't have worried. Director Christopher Nolan knew exactly what he was doing. Hathaway's Selina Kyle proved to be one the best things about Nolan's trilogy ender, at all times both smart and seductive, desirable and deadly. Some may have baulked at her role in (spoiler, if you haven't seen this two year old movie) Bane's death and that she (second spoiler) ultimately ran off to live the quiet life with Bruce Wayne, but looking beyond that there's no denying that Nolan and Hathaway made a nigh-on definitive take on the character. But what little behind the scenes tricks made her work so well? We've already probed Heath Ledger's Joker, Tom Hardy's Bane and Christian Bale's Batman to find out what made them so awesome; now it's the turn of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman.
Honourable Mention - This Wasn't Her First Chance At A Cat
Hathaway's casting as Selina Kyle wasn't the first time she'd been pegged for the part of a cat-burgling, leather-clad love interest of a well known superhero who has a penchant for all things feline. Back when Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 was still potentially a thing, Hathaway was the front runner to play Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat. Intended to go up against Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man along with John Malkovich's Vulture, her chances of playing the part disappeared when Raimi left the project. Given how early on in production the sequel was, it's unlikely Hathaway managed to spend any time with the (very) similar character that might have had a significant influence on her performance as Selina Kyle, but it's still a cool little connection. Felicity Jones played Felicia in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, so odds we will get to see Black Cat on screen eventually.
