Every Catwoman Costume From DC Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Summary

• Catwoman’s live-action costumes have varied widely, from practical jumpsuits to sexy leather bikinis.
• Some versions, such as Halle Berry’s in 2004, missed the mark with overly sexual and impractical designs.
• Others, like Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992’s Batman Returns, struck a balance between danger and seduction.

Catwoman has been a fixture of DC’s movies and TV shows for some time now, with a variety of feline costumes ranging from terrifyingly bad to incredibly well done. Aside from Batman himself, Catwoman might be the most recurring Gotham-based character to appear in DC’s live-action media. With each new TV or film version of Catwoman comes a brand new costume that has to compete with a long list of competitors, and some pull off the look better than others.

In the comics, Catwoman typically wears a bodysuit of some sort, usually paired with a cowl or cat mask, not unlike Batman’s. While the exact color and fit of this costume has varied somewhat, the source material has been surprisingly consistent with what Catwoman wears. Interestingly, the live-action Batman movies and TV shows have had a lot more variety with Catwoman’s outfits, each of which is molded to fit the unique artistic vision of the project it appears in.

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There’s a lot to consider when designing a Catwoman costume for the big or small screen. As a cat burglar, Selina Kyle’s choice of outfit needs to be practical enough for working the second floor, evading tripwires, and carefully freeing precious jewels from their display cases. However, it’s also important to maintain the feline theme, not to mention Catwoman’s signature seductive appeal that usually manages to keep her on Batman’s good side. The best Batman movies and TV shows strike a perfect balance between all three of these aspects with their Catwoman costumes.

8. Halle Berry’s ridiculous costume in the movie

Catwoman (2004)

It’s a shame that Catwoman’s only appearance as a movie protagonist was so poorly received. Halle Berry’s Catwoman is a mess in so many ways, from the pointless story that completely ignores Catwoman’s comic origin in favor of a set of supernatural powers to the embarrassing romantic sequences and endless cat puns. Like so many other things, Catwoman gets the Catwoman costume fundamentally wrong, even if it is conspicuously worn by Halle Berry.

It’s normal for Catwoman to have a certain amount of sex appeal, being a femme fatale character, but Catwoman It takes things way too far. Instead of a practical bodysuit, Catwoman is wearing a leather bikini and pants that reveal way more skin than necessary, ruining the outfit’s ability to look like a cat-themed superhero costume. That’s not to mention the hilariously tall cat hood that’s simply impossible to take seriously, making Berry look more like a sexy version of the Tasmanian Devil than anything else.

7 Julie Newmar’s simple but confident outfit

Batman TV show (1966-1967)

The Adam of the West Ordinance The TV show had three Catwoman actresses, and each new version of the character, surprisingly, had her own unique costume. Of the three Catwoman actresses in the series, Julie Newmar only made two appearances at first, and was quickly replaced by Lee Meriwether with the release of the tie-in film due to scheduling conflicts. Being such a rough draft of the Catwoman character, Julie Newmar’s outfit doesn’t have much going for it.

Newmar wore a skintight fabric jumpsuit in a strange, shiny hue that would become a recurring element in future Catwoman costumes in the series. The fabric could easily mistake the outfit for a simple dress, and her dangling gold necklace seems impractical for pulling off daring heists. The real shame is her cat ears instead of a full hood or even a domino mask, giving her a decidedly low-effort final look that would quickly be surpassed by future Catwoman appearances.

6 Zoe Kravitz’s painfully realistic look

Batman (2022)

It can be hard to justify Catwoman’s animal-themed antics when you’re trying to make the Batman mythos as realistic as possible. Matt Reeves The Batman I ran into this hurdle when I was brainstorming the Catwoman costume for Zoe Kravitz’s take on the feline antihero, trying to find a way to blend the obvious feline aesthetic with the film’s more somber tone. The end result feels like a strange middle ground between a deliberately unrealistic superhero costume and something a real-life criminal might wear.

For what it’s worth, Zoe Kravitz’s jumpsuit looks amazing and easily forms a fantastic base for a great Catwoman costume. Unfortunately, what lets Kravitz down is the ridiculous mask, which seems to suggest an unintentional cat-ear effect by having Selina Kyle wear an oversized balaclava that uncomfortably covers her nose and nothing else. It’s no wonder the movie constantly finds excuses for Catwoman not to wear her mask.

5. Lili Simmons’ prequel costume

Gotham City (2014-2019)

Throughout the many seasons of Gotham CitySelina Kyle slowly evolves from being a lowly henchwoman of Fish Mooney to a self-made criminal in her own right. Like most of the characters in the series, Kyle spends the majority of the series without a true superhero costume, only wearing a leather jacket and upturned glasses that give the slightest suggestion of a genuine Catwoman costume. However, towards the end of the series, Selina Kyle finally manages to go out on a robbery in a real Catwoman costume.

Surprisingly, the look of this costume is almost entirely accurate, with a classic jumpsuit filled with utility pockets, high heels to maintain Selina Kyle’s signature animal magnetism, and an authentic hood. The outfit looks pretty good in motion in the brief scenes it appears in, but in broad daylight, a shocking omission is revealed: the lack of cat ears. If it weren’t for this glaring deficiency, Lili Simmons’ suit might have been the perfect prototype for Catwoman, but it can’t be considered any better.

4. Eartha Kitt’s knockoff costume

Batman TV show (1966-1967)

In the Adam West seasons Ordinance Immediately after the film premiered, Catwoman once again changed actresses due to scheduling conflicts. This time, Lee Meriwether was replaced by Eartha Kitt, who managed to make the character her own with a performance that clearly ended up inspiring future Catwoman actresses. However, Kitt’s costume left something to be desired compared to the film version.

It’s true that Eartha Kitt’s costume is pretty similar to her predecessors, featuring Meriwether’s domino mask and ears along with Julie Newmar’s dangling gold embellishments. In practice, Eartha Kitt’s costume sadly ends up looking like a cheaper version of Lee Meriwether’s, with a slightly poorer fit, a more ridiculous-looking mask and ears, and a strange purple hue. Kitt’s costume was great in concept, but left something to be desired in execution.

3. Anne Hathaway’s modernized catsuit

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

As the Catwoman with the best romance in Batman, it’s no surprise that Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle has had one of the best live-action cat suits ever seen. Christopher Nolan made sure to keep his vision of Gotham and Batman’s suit and technology realistic within reason, but he didn’t try too hard to take away from the style of his characters’ costumes. This is reflected in Hathaway’s Catwoman suit, which ends up looking like an updated version of Lee Meriwether’s suit.

The base of Catwoman’s jumpsuit in The Dark Knight Rises It’s not unlike Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow costume that debuted two years earlier, form-fitting enough to be evocative while also being practical. Turning Catwoman’s ears into a pair of goggles/radio receiver that could be flipped up was a clever way to justify her style in a more realistic universe, and the concession that her domino mask was the result of a high-profile masquerade ball was equally cool. Still, Hathaway’s Catwoman doesn’t fully commit to the superhero aesthetic.

2 Lee Meriwether’s classic outfit

Batman (1966)

Playing Catwoman only in the Adam West-related film Ordinance On the TV show, Lee Meriwether got a lot of mileage out of the biggest-budget Catwoman costume of the original three actresses. A clear improvement over Julie Newmar’s costume in virtually every category, it’s almost unfair to compare Meriwether’s look to that of her contemporaries who worked on the original live-action Batman series. Her Catwoman costume looks like it was ripped straight from the pages of a Silver Age DC comic.

Gone are Newmar’s minor attempts at wearing cat ears, replaced by a gorgeous domino mask and cat ears combo that accentuates Meriwether’s head in a feline profile. The costume also ditches the weird dangling gold necklace that Adam West’s other two Catwomen insisted on having, instead adding some dangerous-looking gold claws on the tips of her gloves for a touch of luxurious flair. Finally, Meriwether’s costume is also the only one of the original three to feature an appropriately dark black color palette, reminiscent of a classic black cat.

1. Michelle Pfeiffer’s eye-catching seamed bodysuit

Batman Returns (1992)

While Michelle Pfeiffer’s actual portrayal of Selina Kyle may have left something to be desired, there’s no doubt that her take on the Catwoman costume is one of the most iconic versions of the character. By fusing the classic DC Comics look with Tim Burton’s signature gothic art style, Michelel Pfeiffer’s costume creates something that is both fresh and recognizable. It’s no wonder now that Pfeiffer’s Catwoman has inspired other Catwoman designs, from The New Adventures of Batman toward Batman ’89 comic career

Catwoman latex costume in Batman Returns She’s effortlessly sensual, and strikes the perfect blend of Catwoman’s danger and seduction. Her sharp claws and cat-eared hood keep the feline theme strong while conveying a sense of menace, something Pfeiffer manages to convey in her performance. The Tim Burton touch is also very evident in the Frankenstein-esque stitching and pale white makeup, which contribute to a striking, almost otherworldly Catwoman design that easily outshines all others in film and television.

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