Along with a wisecracking sidekick and a big final battle, one of the conventions that almost all comic book movies adhere to is the romantic subplot. There are exceptions, like Tom Holland and Zendaya’s infinitely watchable dynamic in the MCU’sSpider-Manmovies or Supes and Lois Lane’s Howard Hawks-ian screwball banter inSuperman: The Movie, but for the most part, the love stories in superhero films feel perfunctory and tacked-on, following all the familiar beats of a Hollywood romance just so the movie has one.
Romantic subplots have always been one of the weaker spots of Batman movies. Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale gets some memorable moments in 1989’sBatman, but that’s not because the romance is particularly interesting; it’s because Vicki’s scenes highlight the dry wit ofMichael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne, like when they’re eating at a ridiculously long table in Wayne Manor and he tells her, “I don’t think I’ve ever been in this room before.” Nicole Kidman’s Dr. Chase Meridian is obsessed with Batman’s duality for the first two acts ofBatman Foreverbefore becoming a standard damsel in distress in the third.
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Christopher Nolan got a lot right inThe Dark Knighttrilogy, from the dichotomy between Bruce and Batman tothe Bat’s complicated relationship with the Joker, but its romantic storyline is arguably the most clichéd and forgettable of the whole franchise. Bruce’s childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes, is a one-dimensional character who exists mostly as an extension of Bruce. The tone of her scenes with Bruce is annoyingly melodramatic. Rachel was such a dull, thinly drawn character that a lot of viewers didn’t notice she was recast between movies.
The Bat And The Cat
Matt Reeves’ hit new reboot,The Batman, fixed a lot of common Batman movie problems. It mercifullyskipped the Bat’s familiar origin story, it finally shed a light on his little-seen detective skills, and it restored his “no guns, no killing” rule after Zack Snyder turned him into a gun-toting killer. On top of that, he also rectified the recurring issue of forgettable, melodramatic love stories. The dynamic shared by Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight and Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman isn’t just more captivating than the average Batman movie romance; it’s one of the most gripping parts ofThe Batman.
Previous Batman movies have largely kept the romance and action separate. Whenever a Batman movie has mixed romance and action in the past, it’s because there’s a femme fatale in the mix.Reeves’ Catwoman isn’t a femme fatalelike her traditional comic book characterization; she’s a fellow masked vigilante targeting the capo of Gotham’s criminal underworld. By adapting Catwoman as a crimefighting ally, Reeves was able to include brutal hand-to-hand combat with henchmen and sizzling romantic tension between his male and female leads within the same scene.
Reeves’ Batman has no interest in keeping up appearances with his playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne facade and spends the majority of the movie in the cowl. He doesn’t have any social relationships as Bruce (except for his strained father-son dynamic with Alfred); he only engages with other people from behind the comfort of the mask. As a result, the movie’s romantic scenes don’t serve as a distraction fromthe Batman action– they both exist simultaneously.
A Thing About Strays
Michael Keaton’s chemistry with Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer’s chemistry with Nicole Kidman, and Christian Bale’s chemistry with the two Rachels were all strong enough to do the job of ticking off “romantic subplot” onthe superhero movie checklist. But Pattinson and Kravitz’s chemistry inThe Batmangoes above and beyond. The painful awkwardness of Pattinson’s Bruce is perfectly matched to the outgoing confidence of Kravitz’s Selina. The mystery of the mask adds an interesting tension (although it’s still pretty far-fetched that nobody can tell it’s Bruce Wayne).
The story of Catwoman reluctantly teaming up with Batman to get to the bottom of a missing persons case that she’s personally involved in is an overt homage toAlan J. Pakula’s neo-noir classicKlute. Pattinson’s Batman evokes Donald Sutherland’s turn as a private eye searching for his missing friend, while Kravitz’s Catwoman evokes Jane Fonda’s Oscar-winning turn as the only lead in the case. Future Batman movies – and, for that matter, future superhero movies – should take note of this influence. Instead of peddling the same overdone beats from meet-cute to damsel-in-distress, they should pilfer the most interesting romantic dynamics from cinema history and recontextualize them with iconic comic book characters.
Kravitz’s Selina is much more three-dimensional than the average Batman movie love interest. She has a harrowing backstory (she was raised ina criminal-infested underground nightclubwhere she now works as a waitress/drug dealer) as well as a relatable motivation for her vengeful crusade against Carmine Falcone and his cronies (he’s her illegitimate father who murdered her mother). This is a pretty unfaithful adaptation of the character, since Catwoman is usually a villain with a cold heart, butThe Batman’s Catwoman is arguably a better character. Femme fatales are a lot of fun, but a vulnerable human being with real emotions is much more engaging than a well-worn genre archetype.
