Intriguing Details Revealed for Tim Burton's Abandoned CATWOMAN Spinoff Film

There are countless stories of movies that never quite had the opportunity to make it to the big screen. One of those projects was Tim Burton's Catwoman spinoff film, a fascinating concept that could have seen Michelle Pfeiffer reprise her iconic role as Selina Kyle. We have some new details to share with you for this unproduced project thanks to Batman Returns writer Daniel Waters. He reveals what Burton was planning to do with the film and it sounds really cool!

When Burton and Waters began discussing the possibility of a Catwoman spinoff movie shortly after the release of 1992's Batman Returns, they had some ambitious and unconventional ideas in mind. In a recent interview with Indiewire, Waters shed light on Burton's initial vision, revealing that the director wanted to create an $18 million black-and-white film inspired by the classic Van Lewton-produced RKO movie Cat People, offering a stark and artistic take on the character of Selina Kyle.

“He wanted to do an $18 million black and white movie, like the original ‘Cat People,’ of Selina just lowkey living in a small town, and I wanted to make a ‘Batman’ movie where the metaphor was about Batman. So I had her move to a Los Angeles version of Gotham City, and it’s run by three asshole superheroes. It was The Boys before The Boys. But he got exhausted reading my script.”

Burton's concept would have portrayed Selina in a low-key setting, living a quiet life in a small town. This departure from the high-octane action of the Batman franchise was a bold artistic choice, promising a deeply introspective and character-driven experience. However, Waters obviously had an entirely different take on the Catwoman character.

While Burton leaned toward a black-and-white, art-house approach, Daniel Waters had a more contemporary, satirical take in mind. While his script was a precursor to The Boys, and the story would have challenged traditional notions of heroism in the superhero genre.

In an interview with Film Review magazine back in 1995, Waters provided more insight into the plot of the Catwoman spinoff he was developing saying:

“After the traumas of the Batman Returns she has amnesia, and she doesn’t really remember why she has all these bullet holes in her body, so she goes to relax in Oasisburg. What Gotham City is to New York, Oasisburg is to Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Palm Springs. [It’s a] resort area in the middle of the desert. It’s run by superheroes, and the movie has great fun at making fun at the whole male superhero mythos. Then they end up being not very good at all deep down, and she’s got to go back to that whole Catwoman thing.”

Both ideas would have made interesting Catwoman movies, but if I were to choose one of the two, I would’ve gone with Burton’s vision for the film. That would have been really interesting to see.

Unfortunately, Burton's Catwoman spinoff project never came to fruition. Both Burton and Pfeiffer moved on to other projects, and the Batman franchise continued with Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Eventually, Catwoman received her standalone movie in 2004, starring Halle Berry, which was met with mixed reviews and failed to properly capture the character.

Regardless of what version of the film they might have moved forward with, the Burton-Waters collaboration could have delivered a groundbreaking take on the Catwoman character, exploring her complexity and challenging the conventions of superhero storytelling.