The Batman Gives Plot-Important Parent Issues To Catwoman, Not Bruce Wayne
While new truths about Bruce Wayne and his family legacy were revealed in The Batman, Catwoman's own parent issues were critical to her role.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Batman
While The Batman creates new dynamics for the family legacy of Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson), Selina Kyle's Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) is given parent issues that feel stronger for her role in the film's plot. Thanks to the villain known as Riddler (Paul Dano), Gotham is faced with dark new truths that shake the city to its core, including personal revelations for Batman himself. However, Selina Kyle reveals a major truth of her own, confirming her secret parentage which has long been teased in the comics.
In the new DC film directed by Matt Reeves, Batman is in his second year as a vigilante when Gotham is tormented by Riddler, murdering city officials and key figures while revealing a major conspiracy that has long been kept secret. As Batman works with Lt. Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to solve the various riddles and uncover the truth, the vigilante also comes into contact with Selina Kyle, a proficient cat burglar who also works in the Iceberg Lounge. As the two agree to work together despite their different motives, Kyle eventually reveals why she so badly wants to steal from Gotham's biggest crime boss Carmine Falcone before she kills him.
Following the confirmation that Carmine Falcone murdered Selina's girlfriend Annika Kosolov, Catwoman admits that Falcone is her estranged father, something the comics such as The Long Halloween and Dark Victory have only ever implied via circumstantial evidence. Not only is it confirmed outright in The Batman that Falcone is Selina's father despite his neglect, but it's also revealed that he was the one who killed Selina's mother as well. If not for Batman's interference in convincing her otherwise, Catwoman would have easily killed Falcone for what he did. As such, Selina's parental arc is far more central to her role in The Batman as opposed to Bruce Wayne's.
In The Batman, Bruce Wayne learns that his father was not as perfect as he thought he was. While Thomas Wayne made mistakes that led to parts of his legacy being tainted by Gotham's most corrupt, Batman's butler Alfred confirmed he was still a good man. Furthermore, it's only part of Batman's overall arc in the plot, rather than his parent issues being the sole focus as it is for Catwoman. As a result, Selina's conflict with her own father feels far more important and dynamic.
While Selina ultimately didn't kill Carmine, the Gotham crime boss was still murdered moments later by Riddler because of his pivotal role in the conspiracy that the villain revealed to the city. Nevertheless, it seems as though Catwoman got the closure she wanted after confronting the father who wanted nothing to do with her and killed her mother. As such, it will be interesting to see more of Selina Kyle and where she could go next in future sequels or spin-offs set in Reeves' vision of Gotham following her role in The Batman.