Selina Kyle is a mysterious figure who is quietly infiltrating Gotham’s seedy underbelly to further her own agenda.  Her fierce attitude and tenacious agility are the perfect tools to excel as a cat burglar, but hidden underneath the array of identities and the motorcycle leathers is a protective soul who’s more at home with the city’s strays than its citizens.

Zoë Kravitz stars in the enigmatic, fan-favorite role.  Evenly matched with The Batman, Selina is initially at odds with him, presenting another puzzle for Bruce to solve.

“What was most important to me was that Selina didn’t come off as a victim because of her troubled past,” Kravitz states.  “That can often be a trap with female characters like her, and I don't think she's like that.  I think she is incredibly tough, has survived this far, and has the drive to fight for other people she sees in similar positions.”

Reeves attests, “I knew right from my first meeting with Zoë that there was something very special about her.  I could sense her connection to Selina Kyle, and I could feel that this was a character that she felt a kinship with, that she was internalizing.  I talked to her about various inspirations, characters like Evelyn Mulwray from ‘Chinatown,’ and Bree Daniels from ‘Klute,’ trying to find a way to make this character a survivor and somebody who had to fight her way in Gotham.  Zoë really connected to that, and at the same time was diving into the comics.”

In the film, where the character intersects with The Batman seems predestined: his investigation leads their paths to cross, but, according to Kravitz, it was really inevitable, because they are essentially fighting for the same thing, though their methods may vary.

“Her backstory was very clear in the script,” she relates, “so, for me it was more about figuring out what happened between then and now—how she’s been able to survive, how she’s ended up where she is now, and why she finds it so important to fight for what she believes in.”  That exploration, along with the famed moniker, sparked an idea.  “The other thing that I brought to Matt was this idea of stray cats.  I think that she is a stray herself, and I think she sees Batman as a stray and that’s where their connection lies.  She really wants to fight for those who don’t have someone else to fight for them and that is where Batman and Selina really connect.”

It was important to the actress to put her own stamp on the character as well.  “I didn’t want to focus on making a character who’s iconic or sexy or whatever people are expecting.  I really wanted it to be about her spirit.  It’s not often that you get a truly complex female character, especially in movies at this scale,” she says.  “I really fell for her story, her past, her pain, her struggle, her strength.  In her I found a character who was more than just a sidekick or more than just a good-looking girl in a tight outfit.  She doesn’t need to be saved by anybody and at the same time when I was reading the script, there were times when I would just put my hand on my heart and really feel for this person.  I feel that her story’s an important one to tell.”

She also reveled in the way Reeves had intertwined Selina and The Batman.  “Actually, cat-and-mouse is a great way to describe their relationship,” Kravitz smiles.  “There's a love-hate thing and the line between love and hate is really very thin.  There is a deep soul connection; even though they see things differently and they come from very different backgrounds, they both believe in justice…though their ideas of what justice is might be a little bit different.  They’re both people who not only fight for what they believe in, but also aren’t afraid to die for what they believe in, and that’s a very rare quality.”

Reeves credits his actors for making the connection feel organic, asserting, “There was something very special and magical about the way Rob and Zoë played off each other right from the beginning.  They are friends and they have great chemistry, and just like their onscreen counterparts, as actors they are a great match, and for a director that’s really exciting.”

“Matt is so collaborative," Kravitz says.  “He wants the actors to be a part of the process and really listens to an idea, no matter how long he’s been visualizing something one way, and that’s incredible.  His love for the story and his intention behind it were the things that drove this entire project and I think that is why this film will be different than any other Batman we’ve seen before and why it was a delight to work for him.”

The relationship between Batman and Selina also provided Pattinson with plenty of psychology to chew on.  “Batman has a very black-and-white way of thinking about the world,” he says.  “For him, there are criminals and there are victims.  I think she is the first person he really struggles with.  He thinks she’s on the bad side, but he likes her, it’s the beginning of a crack in his pretty rigid worldview.  He’s a guy who’s pretty fixated on control, over himself and his environment, and it drives him a little bit crazy that he can’t put his finger on how he feels about her.”

Pattinson knew Kravitz would be perfect for the complicated character.  “I’ve known Zoë for years and she is an incredibly hard worker and showed a lot of commitment to the role and the film.  And the minute you see her in this film it’s, ‘Yeah, that is Catwoman.’”

“Rob’s a wonderful actor,” Kravitz reciprocates.  “He makes really daring, bold, unusual choices and isn’t afraid to think outside the box.  He plays this role with the right amount of mystery and emotion and angst and rage.”

Dylan Clark appreciated the way the characters were realized on both the page and the set, observing, “Selina Kyle is honest and real and sees the world a little bit more cynically than Batman, but they are very similar.  When she asks him, ‘Why do you care?  Why are you trying to save this city that can’t be saved?’ it’s not because she’s a bad person, it’s that she is an honest person and someone who sees this world can be brutal and unkind.”

Check the exclusive photos here!