Zoë Kravitz says she “definitely interpreted” Catwoman as bisexual in The Batman

Zoë Kravitz and The Batman director Matt Reeves open up on the queerness of Selina Kyle aka Catwoman on the big screen.

Kravitz is the latest star to carry the mantle as the infamous Catwoman and the actor has confirmed she “interpreted” the role as queer.

In an interview with Pedestrian TV, the 33-year-old actor said she saw “some kind of romantic relationship” between Catwoman and character Anika Noni Rose.

The Batman movie features a shared scene between Zoë’s character Selina Kyle and a female friend Anika in which Kyle addresses her as “baby”.

Theories suggest this interaction was an acknowledgement to Kyle’s character who is portrayed as bisexual in the comics.

The Batman director, Matt Reeves, was much more enigmatic with his response to the portrayal of Selina Kyle.

‘[The film is] very true to the character of Selina Kyle. She’s not yet Catwoman, but all the elements of how she’s going to become Catwoman are there,’ he explained.

‘And in terms of her relationship with Anika, I spoke to Zoë very early on and one of the things she said which I loved was that: “She’s drawn to strays because she was a stray and so she really wants to care for these strays because she doesn’t want to be that way anymore and Anika is like a stray and she loves her. She actually represents this connection that she has to her mother who she lost, who was a stray anymore.”‘

The American director elaborated on the shared “intimacy” Kyle has with same-sex characters and said he was open to fan interpretations.

“I don’t think we meant to go directly in that way, but you can interpret it that way for sure. She has an intimacy with that character and it’s a tremendous and deep caring for that character, more so than a sexual thing, but there was meant to be quite an intimate relationship between them.”

While the LGBTQ+ fate of Kravitz’s character remains ambiguous, the big screen has seen an outpour of confirmed LGBTQ+ characters in superhero films.

Tessa Thompson has vocally advocated for more LGBTQ+ visibility in the Marvel universe, saying “there is so much work to be done”.

During an interview with The Wrap, the 38-year-old discussed her desire to see more diversity and representation in the superhero franchise.

“We talk so much about representation, and obviously, in terms of the LGBTQIA+ community, there’s still so much work to be done,” she said when asked about playing bisexual character Valkyrie. “But if you look at the comics in the canon, there are so many queer characters!”

Marvel Comics also confirmed that Star-Lord, a member of their beloved superhero collective Guardians of the Galaxy – and one of their most popular characters in history – is bisexual.

Likewise, rumours suggest Ironheart could be the next bisexual superhero to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

According to Epicstream, Marvel has been considering making Williams, who is straight in the comics, into an LGBTQ+ character.