Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle, the slinky and savage outlaw who is known as Catwoman, in next year's Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. Pictures announced. She will star alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Tom Hardy, already announced as a cast member, will play Bane, the chemically created brute who first appeared in the comics in 1993 — making him a far “younger” villain for Nolan's Batman mega-franchise, which has most prominently featured The Joker (who first appeared in 1940), Two-Face (1942), Ra’s Al-Ghul (1971) and The Scarecrow (1941).

Catwoman — then just called “The Cat” — first appeared in 1940 as the creation of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and she has brought leather-clad sexual tension to the Batman adventures both on the page and beyond. She was portrayed by Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Lee Meriwether on the 1960s television series starring Adam West as the caped crusader, and Michelle Pfeiffer memorably cracked the whip in the role opposite the masked Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's 1992 film Batman Returns. In 2004, Halle Berry starred in the character's own solo film, Catwoman, but the film became an infamous flop and was jeered by comic-book fans after director Pitof jettisoned years of comic-book lore and character touchstones.

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, from a story Christopher Nolan wrote with David S. Goyer. Christopher Nolan will also produce the film with his wife and longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven. The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012.

Los Angeles Times and Star staff