Let's reacquaint ourselves with the combatants:
DEADPOOL
Deadpool/Wade Wilson is a Marvel Comics character created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Leifeld as a villain for the X-Men comic series. His first appearance was "New Mutants #98" in February, 1991, and has become a recurring character in several other titles including a few of his own.
Originally an homage (or rip-off, depending on who you ask) of Deathstroke/Slade Wilson from DC's "Teen Titans" comics, he slowly became his own distinct character. The 1997 "Deadpool" title, written by Joe Kelly, introduced the post-modernist and comedic elements that the character is known for today, at the same time beginning to build up the cult following that has finally broken into the mainstream of geekdom.
Deadpool has been portrayed by Nolan North in all animated and video game appearances except for X-Men Legends II and the two Marvel Ultimate Alliance games (where he was played by John Kassir), Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (where he was played by Tom Kenny), and an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man (where he was voiced by Will Friedle).
In the 2009 film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Wade Wilson was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. In spite of fan misunderstanding and subsequent poor reaction to the character's mind-controlled transition phase "Weapon X-1" in the film's climax, Reynolds has been working with several different writers and directors trying to get a live-action Deadpool movie to the screen with the character fully-realized. In 2011, test footage was shot with Reynolds as Deadpool using motion-capture to recreate the expressive nature of Deadpool's mask and pitched to 20th Century Fox. In 2014, a clip of this test footage was leaked to the internet, possibly to drum up fan support and let Fox see the demand. Reactions have been overall very favorable.
CATWOMAN
Catwoman/Selina Kyle is a DC Comics character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for the Batman comic series. Her first appearance was "Batman #1" in the spring of 1940, where she was known as "The Cat."
Partially inspired by Kane's cousin Ruth Steel and actress Jean Harlow, Catwoman was introduced to add sex appeal for male readers, and as an interesting draw for female readers. Her character was to give dramatic and romantic tension to the series, as she and Batman are romantically perfectly suited for each other except that they are on opposite sides of the law. Her flip-flopping between anti-heroism and pure villainy (only in larceny - she was never a killer) began after an extended hiatus in the 1950s and early 1960s due to issues with the Comic's Code and portrayal of female characters. However, she remained a popular villain with fans and is typically considered second only to The Joker in a list of Batman's greatest rogues.
Catwoman appears sooner or later in most adaptations of the Batman mythos. She has been portrayed in various media by (in no particular order): Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriwether, Maggie Biard, Camren Bicondova, Jane Webb, Melendy Britt, Adrienne Barbeau, Gina Gershon, Nika Futterman, Stephanie Sheh, Michelle Pfieffer, Anne Hathaway, Eliza Dushku, Tress MacNielle, Vanessa Marshall, Brenda Barrie, P.J. Mattson, Kelly Huston, Grey DeLisle, Katherine Von Till, and Lorelei King. In 2004, a Catwoman movie was released staring Hallie Berry, but as a completely different character than Selina Kyle and thus was an In-Name-Only adaptation (because of this and other issues, the film is very poorly regarded).
Final Thoughts
While Catwoman has her rather impressive tenure on her side, the recently-leaked Deadpool test footage has put the Merc with the Mouth squarely in the public's eye.
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Up til about a month ago I would've done Deadpool out of sheer indifference towards the Cat- nothing against her character, I've just never been huge on a lot of the default conceptions of her and I always found the Bat/Cat pairing rather strained (like, it feels like something that's done because it's expected to be done rather than anything natural).
ReplyDeleteThen I rewatched Batman Returns, and...omigosh. Single-handedly redeemed the character for me- and I should note that this is a film I have seen many, many times, and grown to love throughout the years- it's just that, as with any great film, you notice more points of excellence the more you watch it, and this rewatch revealed the utter brilliance of Pfieffer's performance as Kyle/Catwoman. The duality, the brokenness, the uncertainty of a woman who simply doesn't know who she is anymore (with Pfieffer displaying this in oh-so-easy-to-miss ticks- I stand by the comedic scene she has with Alfred as one of the standout moments of the film for how much she releases moments of character in what is ostensibly a joke scene). Returns is in many ways the story of two broken people coming to find each other through the darkness and twisted facets of their lives, and it's easily the most invested I've ever been in the pairing.
...so yeah. Sorry about hijacking the thread for a bit. I just *really* love Batman Returns.
My internet handle for my high school and college years was "Cobblepot27".
DeleteOne of my favorite musical compositions of all time is Danny Elfman's "Selina Transforms"
Tim Burton was my favorite director for many years and is still a close second.
Why would I mind a BR derailment?