Chris Nolan: Getter of the Benefit of the Doubt

Director Christopher Nolan's final film in his Batman trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises", is scheduled for release next summer. I think. I didn't Google for the exact release date; for all I know it could be streaming on Netflix instant right now, shoved in the queue somewhere between martial arts/basketball mash-up "Kung-Fu Dunk" and WWE Superstar Documentary "Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story".

Included in the cast of "The Dark Knight Rises" is one Ms. Anne Hathaway (you may remember her as Agent 99 in the Patrick Warburton vehicle "Get Smart"). She is playing the role of well-known Batman foil/love interest Selina Kyle/Catwoman/Eartha Kitt, and recently Warner Bros. released the following promotional picture of Ms. Hathaway on-set and in-costume:

Now for the unawares, comic-book fans are often referred to as Fanboys, and are often painted with a broad brush of stereotypes: lives in moms basement, plays "World of Warcraft", does not bathe, drinks Mountain Dew, eats Funyuns (thanks Stephen Lynch!), goes from zero-to-no social interactivity in under 35 years and shall die virginal and alone.

As with most stereotypes, these are unfair and patently untrue. There is one trait, though, that does rear its ugly head from time to time among Fanboy America: as are fans of all sorts of things (sports, music, needlepoint) we are supremely protective of that which we love... sometimes to a fault.

Now is the time we shall illustrate one of these sometime faults.

It would be unfair to say the above image cause an "uproar" among the members of Fanboy Nation. On the one (solo) comic book message board I frequent/lurk around, there was evident grumbling about how the lovely Ms. Hathaway looked less "cattish" than some would like.

I would like to take this moment to remind the guilty grumblers of this:

This would be the first-look image of the tragically late Heath Ledger as the Joker in Mr. Nolan's 2008 film "The Dark Knight". The reveal of this image, as well as the initial casting announcement of Mr. Ledger in the role, prompted a fair deal more grumbling than the Anne Hathaway casting announcement and reveal did, and in the end the biggest outcry among comics fans in regards to "The Dark Knight" was that it was snubbed of a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. I personally regard "The Dark Knight" as the best Joker story anywhere ever, even (especially) over the awful, awful Alan Moore graphic novel "The Killing Joke" which is a crime against the character of Batman but I just threw away my geek-cred card with that very minority opinion so let's move along.

I've also seen some wishing and hoping that the Fanboy-adored Darwyn Cooke interpretation of Catwoman would become the model for Nolan's version of Catwoman. Mr. Cooke is a comic book creator par excellence, and his solo "Catwoman" title featured a fantastic character design and characterization of Ms. Kyle:

But the last thing I'd want to see in "The Dark Knight Rises" is Mr. Nolan regurgitate another artist's take on a character. I'm sure Mr. Nolan and his vast team have pored over dozens and dozens of the various iterations of Catwoman that have appeared over the years... and then come up with their own personal version of the character that fits this particular film. So far we've seen the Christopher Nolan versions of the Joker...

... the Scarecrow...

... Ra's al Ghul...

... Harvey Dent/Two-Face...

... Jim Gordon...

... and Bruce Wayne/Batman...

... and you know what? He's knocked pretty much every one of them out of the damn park. So hey, regardless of whatever blue-rimmed Lazer Tag goggles he's shoved Catwoman in, regardless of whether or not she has a pointy-eared cat-themed cowl on, I'm going to give Mr. Nolan the benefit of the doubt on this one. Because if he hasn't earned it by now, nobody has.

Besides, Fanboys, let's remember: a pointy-eared cat-themed cowl doesn't guarantee anything.

Personally, I think we all owe Eartha Kitt an apology.