DC fans recently received a bittersweet revelation about the future of the DC Universe, with details emerging of a promising animated Catwoman feature film that was cancelled months into its development.
The project, which would have centered around Selina Kyle as a child, was in development at Swaybox Studios for HBO Max, utilizing their special blend of puppetry, stop-motion, and CGI. It was filmmaker Arthur Mintz, director of the upcoming animated DCU feature Dynamic Duo, who let the news slip in a since-deleted interview.
Arthur said the Catwoman film had been given the green light but became one of dozens of projects culled by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who has been aggressively trimming content for streaming. "He cancelled 42 projects, including ours," Arthur revealed.
But that wasn’t the end of it. According to reports, The Batman franchise director Matt Reeves, who saw some of the early footage, put together a sizzle reel of the work and presented it to Zaslav. The CEO reportedly loved it, referring to it as ‘incredible’ while suggesting it be released theatrically.
Despite this positive turnaround, the studios marketing department reportedly pushed back, arguing a ‘larger story’ was needed for a big-screen release. This is where the cancellation of the solo Catwoman film seems to have birthed the concept for Dynamic Duo, which shall focus on the youth of two male heroes, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.
While Dynamic Duo does boast the famed comic artist Jock and has fans excited, the replacement has many frustrated that a young female anti-hero's story has been replaced by one about two male heroes after a high-level executive reversed his initial cancellation of the title. Whether the developed footage for Catwoman could be repurposed for Dynamic Duo or eventually resurrected remains unclear.
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