Two Catwoman Spinoff Ideas With Michelle Pfeiffer Never Saw the Light of Day Due to Tim Burton
Catwoman is one of the most popular DC characters. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character made its first appearance in spring 1940 in the comic Batman #1. Although she was initially portrayed as one of Batman’s greatest adversaries, she is often depicted as an antiheroine and Batman’s most enduring and popular love interest.
Catwoman’s character has been seen in both movies and shows. One of her most famous portrayals in films is that of Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns, directed by Tim Burton. Despite being one of the most beloved DC villains (or heroes, if you will), the character has only received one spinoff in all these years. It could have received more of those if two ideas for it had not been ignored after Tim Burton’s exit.
Tim Burton Wanted to Make a Catwoman Spinoff
After his success with Beetlejuice and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Tim Burton started working on Batman, which was released in 1989. It was the fifth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release with a box office earning of $411.6 million and even won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The success led to Warner Bros. greenlighting a sequel which was released in 1992.
For the record, Burton did not want to do a sequel to 1989’s successful Batman. He agreed to make the sequel only if he would be allowed to have creative control of the movie. Despite this, Batman Returns received a lot of backlash from parents because McDonald’s used the movie to promote Happy Meals, and the movie features violence which is not child-friendly.
Batman Returns writer Daniel Waters once revealed to IndieWire that Burton not only wanted to make a third Batman movie but also a Catwoman spinoff. Speaking of Burton’s idea for the Catwoman spinoff, Waters said:
“He wanted to do an $18 million black and white movie, like the original ‘Cat People,’ of Selina just lowkey living in a small town.”
For those unversed, Cat People is a 1942 film noir thriller in which the main character Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) was cursed to turn into a black panther whenever she felt amorous. This made it hard for her to be with her husband or any lover for that matter. Burton could have made Selina Kyle’s alter-ego struggle in her love life in the spin-off.
Daniel Waters Also Had an Idea for a Catwoman Spinoff
Having Daniel Waters to write Batman Returns script was Tim Burton’s choice so the latter getting kicked from the next Batman project also got Waters off it. If it was not for Burton getting booted, Waters’ idea for the Catwoman spinoff could have materialized.
Speaking of his idea for a spinoff featuring Selina Kyle, Waters told IndieWire:
“And I wanted to make a ‘Batman’ movie where the metaphor was about ‘Batman.’ So I had her move to a Los Angeles version of Gotham City, and it’s run by three asshole superheroes. It was ‘The Boys’ before ‘The Boys.’ But he got exhausted reading my script.”
Daniel Waters also said that the reason Batman Returns attracted so much controversy was that it went off-road when it should have stayed true to the comics. He admitted that there was a lack of research which led to this. It goes without saying that had these Catwoman spinoffs happened, Michelle Pfeiffer would have nailed the titular role.
