Warner Bros. Shelved a CATWOMAN Movie 3 Years in Development That Fused Puppetry, CGI, and Live-Action Magic
Catwoman has clawed her way through decades of pop culture in live-action, animation, comics, and even her own solo film back in 2004. But as it turns out, her cinematic history almost got another chapter.
A Catwoman feature film from Swaybox Studios was in active production for HBO Max before being abruptly canceled just three months in.
The story recently resurfaced after DC Film News highlighted behind-the-scenes photos on Swaybox Studio’s website that might actually come from that lost project. These images are now believed to be early production shots from Dynamic Duo, an upcoming animated film from DC Studios focused on Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.
Swaybox’s upcoming project is being created in their distinctive mix of puppetry, CGI, and live-action, which is a unique visual blend that could make it DC’s own version of Spider-Verse. But surprisingly, Dynamic Duo actually evolved from that scrapped Catwoman film.
A 2025 Biz New Orleans interview with Swaybox co-founder Arthur Mintz revealed the studio’s original plans: "We were greenlit to make a project for HBO Max, a feature film based on Catwoman as a kid."
Unfortunately, that project didn’t survive David Zaslav’s massive overhaul of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming strategy. As the company scaled back its HBO Max productions, dozens of projects were abruptly shelved. Mintz recalled, "He canceled 42 projects, including ours."
There’s a silver lining, though. According to reports, The Batman director Matt Reeves got a look at Swaybox’s early Catwoman footage and was so impressed that he cut together a sizzle reel to show Zaslav himself.
The CEO was reportedly blown away, calling the footage “incredible,” and insisted that it be released, just not as Catwoman. Instead, he wanted a “larger story.” That directive gave birth to Dynamic Duo.
The scrapped Catwoman project was meant to be a prequel exploring Selina Kyle’s early life, a similar direction to what Dynamic Duo will explore with young Grayson and Todd.
The new film “will depict how the friendship between Grayson and Todd as youths becomes tested by their diverging ideas for what their future should be.”
It’s a shame the Catwoman film never got the chance to show us that side of the character. A coming-of-age story told through Swaybox’s inventive animation style could have been a refreshing take on Selina Kyle, especially considering her ongoing popularity in DC’s lineup.
For now, it doesn’t look like Catwoman has any major appearances lined up. While many fans expected Zoë Kravitz to return in The Batman Part II, recent rumors suggest otherwise. Perhaps The Brave and the Bold, DC’s upcoming reboot of the Batman universe, will give Selina Kyle another shot in the spotlight.
Either way, it’s interesting to think we were very close to seeing a new Catwoman movie unlike anything DC has ever done before.