Ben Affleck’s The Batman May Not Feature Catwoman

The next film to be released in the DC Extended Universe is this coming year’s Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot as the Amazonian princess. Following Wonder Woman will be the highly anticipated team-up Justice League, starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Once Justice League hits theaters in November 2017, all eyes will turn to the next batch of solo films – though the most anticipated of those may be Ben Affleck’s The Batman.

Despite mixed reactions to Batman V Superman, Ben Affleck’s first film as Batman, the actor received mostly praise for his turn as the Dark Knight. This has left fans optimistic that future films featuring The Bat will be more than worth the price of admission. Of course, The Batman is not only receiving buzz due to Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Rather, it is the Academy Award-winning director’s position behind the camera that really has people excited. And with Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns hard at work creating the perfect script, fans are beginning to wonder: what classic Batman characters will be making an appearance?

Along those lines, one question that remains up in the air, is Bruce Wayne’s love interest. We know Talia Al Ghul will not be appearing, but how about Selina Kyle aka Catwoman? Fandango editor Erik Davis is reporting that he recently spoke with Ben Affleck’s Live By Night co-star, Sienna Miller, who expressed her interest in the Catwoman role, before confirming that Selina Kyle is not slated to appear in The Batman. Specifically, the actress stated, “She’s not in the script but I wanna write her in!”

Any mention of Ben Affleck’s The Batman is certain to generate news, so Davis did clarify this morning that Sienna Miller is not involved with the film’s writing process, so fans should not “take her word as bond.”

As for who will actually be in The Batman, we know that Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke will be played by Joe Manganiello, while Jeremy Irons will be reprising his role as Alfred from Batman V Superman, and J.K. Simmons will be expanding on his Commissioner Gordon role, which will be first seen in Justice League.

There are few characters in comics whose history is more intertwined than Batman and Catwoman. The frequent Bruce Wayne love interest has been played in previous films by Michell Pfeiffer (Batman Returns) and Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises). It is, therefore, likely that Kyle will eventually make her DCEU debut, but maybe not as soon as The Batman. After all, it does sound like Affleck and Johns are trying to deliver a fresh take on Batman, as evident by their inclusion of Deathstroke, a character yet to appear in a live-action Batman movie. Whether Sienna Miller is as in the know as she suggests, is a different question altogether.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Wonder Woman release date: Jun 2, 2017
Justice League release date: Nov 17, 2017
The Flash Movie release date: Mar 16, 2018
Aquaman release date: Jul 27, 2018
Shazam! release date: Apr 5, 2019
Cyborg release date: Apr 3, 2020
Green Lantern Corps. release date: Jul 24, 2020