Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; photos: Getty
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The almost-certainly-untrue rumor that Cher is Christopher Nolan's "first choice" to play Catwoman in the follow-up to The Dark Knight � and Vulture's convincing concept art � point to a real problem that's going to face Nolan as he continues the enormously successful new-and-improved Batman franchise: How to shoehorn the more cartoonish villains of the comics into Nolan's realistic, crime-thriller universe? The idea of Cher as an aging Catwoman has its appeal, but also edges into fanwankery � not unlike Australian artist Josh McMahon's unintentionally hilarious attempts to imagine Nolanized versions of Harley Quinn and the Riddler.
While the Tim Burton�Joel Schumacher series comfortably situated outlandish supervillains like the Penguin and Poison Ivy in a bizarre universe that was art-directed to within an inch of its life, in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Nolan has favored a more recognizable urban environment with actual, y�know, exteriors. He avoided flamboyant villains in Begins, and deliberately set up the Joker as an aberration in Knight � a psychopath whose face paint even freaked out his fellow criminals. But how many more times can comic-book grotesques be finessed in this way? Why would a woman dress up like a cat in the Gotham City of Dark Knight? Why would a guy wear a jacket covered in question marks? And could a short, chubby dork really take on Christian Bale�s high-tech Batman while wearing a monocle? How far can Nolan take his gritty conceit before, like poor Joel Schumacher before him, he edges the series into self-parody?
Earlier: Latest Made-Up Rumors Suggest Cher Will Play Catwoman in Next Batman Movie
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