Listed below are all eight Catwoman actresses ranked.

We’re solely together with live-action performances, however together with all Batman and Catwoman TV reveals and movies.

So right here we go. However first…

A Catveat

To our mind-set, there aren’t any unhealthy Catwoman actresses. However now we have loved some variations of the enduring character — first launched as “The Cat” in Batman #1 in 1940 — greater than others.

Catwoman has all the time been completely different than most Batman villains in that she’s extra of an antihero — or perhaps a hero who went astray. There’s a fragile dance between her and Batman wherein she generally tries to drag him into a lifetime of crime, and he all the time tries to drag her into the sunshine.

What’s constant in most variations of the character is that whereas Bruce Wayne/Batman comes from immense wealth, Catwoman has all the time been self-made, and compelled to compromise in methods the Darkish Knight isn’t. That makes her, in some ways, a extra compelling character than Batman. And his most intriguing adversary.

And now, right here we go along with the Catwoman actresses ranked from good to nice.

8 – Camren Bicondova in Gotham (2014-2019)

Now we have no points with Camren Bicondova’s efficiency on the present — however all the Gotham enterprise appears misbegotten to us. It’s a present in regards to the early years of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and a forged of characters that features Bicondova’s younger Selina Kyle.

We simply don’t just like the “younger Batman” idea, or the self-esteem that Batman and Catwoman have recognized one another since they have been youngsters. We vastly choose the normal take wherein Batman is a longtime crimefighter who finds his handy presumptions about criminals difficult by the sympathetic presence of Catwoman, a personality who has to steal to outlive.

Bicondova does a wonderfully nice job in her position. It’s the entire idea of Gotham that we don’t love.

7 – Zoë Kravitz in The Batman (2022)

Once more, no points with Kravitz’ efficiency. However her efficiency makes us consider the catchphrase from Heath Ledger’s Joker: Why so severe?

The Batman shares a view of Catwoman that’s similar to the one in Frank Miller’s masterful collection Batman: 12 months One, wherein Kyle is an up-from-the-gutter thief who turns into a masked prison as an alternative choice to intercourse work.

The Batman doesn’t take the character to the identical extremes because the 12 months One, however does clarify that Kyle has few choices in life. She’s very a lot a counterpoint to the billionaire Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson).

The one difficulty with the movie’s characterization, as we see it, is that The Batman‘s conception of Catwoman has not one of the character’s trademark wit. One of many issues that makes Catwoman so interesting is her darkish humorousness at the same time as she offers with unimaginable adversity. Her cynically humorous outlook provides to her attraction.

6 – Halle Berry in Catwoman (2004)

Halle Berry is the one actress to play Catwoman in a standalone film, and in a twist of film destiny, ended up getting a Razzie for Worst Actress simply a few years after she earned a Finest Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball.

You realize what? We don’t just like the Razzies. They persistently miss the purpose of massive, all-in performances, and that was the case with Catwoman. Berry performed the character as if she have been an precise cat — all intuition and response — and the issue with the film is its very 2000s fast cuts and flash, not Berry’s appearing.

Anyway, the enduring actress displayed a Catwoman-like stage of gumption — and an important humorousness — when she confirmed as much as settle for her Razzie in particular person.

5 – Eartha Kitt in the Batman TV Present (1967-68)

Eartha Kitt’s model of Catwoman feels extra like a cartoon than an individual, however boy, Kitt sells it. Her whole dedication is intoxicating.

Maybe greater than any all the opposite Catwomen, the singer-actress understood the uncooked charisma of Catwoman. She grasped that it’d really be enjoyable to decorate up in a masks and catsuit and steal diamonds. Kitt introduced extra vamp and camp to the position than every other Catwoman actress and we love her for it. She’s pictured above with considered one of our favourite Joker actors.

Kitt took over the position within the third season of the Batman TV present, changing the subsequent Catwoman actress on our listing.

4 – Julie Newmar within the Batman TV Present (1966-1967)

Julie Newmar originated the live-action, swinging ’60s model of Catwoman, and deserves loads of credit score for creating the template for all future Catwoman actresses.

Her alluring tackle the position made her one of the crucial seductive of all Catwoman actresses: Her model of the character wished to entice Batman (Adam West) to affix her in a lifetime of crime, and all of us would have understood if he’d succumbed.

We additionally loved her interaction with Pussycat (Lesley Gore), who was sort of like Catwoman’s Robin — and naturally had a extra harmless will-they-or-won’t they dynamic with Burt Ward’s Robin. It was all very foolish and enjoyable.

3- Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns (1992)

Director Tim Burton inspired Pfeiffer to go equally all-in with this sequel to his 1989 blockbuster Batman, and Pfeiffer delivered.

Whereas her Selina Kyle is possibly too mousy earlier than her transformation, as soon as she turns into Catwoman, she’s irresistible.

Kyle’s goth tackle Catwoman — deadpan, at instances ghastly pale — makes her essentially the most successful character in a film filled with over-the-top performances. Her arch tackle the phrase “meow” is likely one of the all-time finest single-word line readings.

2 – Lee Meriwether in Batman (1966)

Julie Newmar was very a lot in demand within the mid-’60s, which meant scheduling conflicts saved her from doing the Batman film. Lee Meriwether stepped in and completely nailed it.

Enjoying each Catwoman and her alter-ego, Kitka, Meriwether is humorous, weak, daring, and in some way — in a film notable for its off-the-charts campiness — plausible.

The Batman film is likely one of the most fun-for-the-whole household motion pictures we’ve ever seen: Youngsters will take it severely, adults much less so, and everybody could have a blast.

A lot of its success hinges on Meriwether’s efficiency, echoes of which may be present in the very best and remaining efficiency on our listing…

1 – Anne Hathaway in The Darkish Knight Rises (2012)

Hathaway performed Selina Kyle as a basic noir femme fatale, combining darkish wit with magnetism and verve. However she additionally introduced extra athleticism and energy to the position than any of the Catwoman actresses earlier than or since. And she or he performed all of it fully actual, as is the rule with the Christopher Nolan Batman motion pictures.

Her speech, murmured to Bruce Wayne as they dance, captures the essence of Catwoman: “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your folks higher batten down the hatches, as a result of when it hits, you’re all gonna surprise the way you ever thought you would reside so massive and depart so little for the remainder of us.”

The standard Batman-Catwoman dance could be very a lot in play in The Darkish Knight Rises, and it’s tremendously satisfying to see the dreamy manner it resolves. We sit up for Hathaway and Nolan reuniting this summer time for The Odyssey.

When you favored this listing of Catwoman actresses ranked, you might also like our listing of All 7 Batman Actors Ranked.

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Principal picture: Lee Meriwether in Batman. twentieth Century Fox

Editor’s Word: Corrects spelling of Meriwether.