How Catwoman Rejoined The Bat-Family After Being Declared An Official Enemy

Warning! Spoilers for Batman #149 ahead!After going through hell, Batman is finally ready to bring an ex-member of the Bat-Family back into the fold. Bruce Wayne has had a lot of ups and downs in his life recently and now he's looking back on his life with a much-needed sense of clarity.

Amid the chaos of traversing the multiverse and dealing with his deranged backup personality, Batman went up against his loved ones in "Gotham War". This event drove a wedge in the crime-fighting team and nearly wrecked one of the Dark Knight's closest relationships. But now that things have finally settled, Batman is ready to make amends with someone he truly cares about.

Batman and Catwoman Finally Make Up After "Gotham War"

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In Batman #149 by Chip Zdarsky, Steve Lieber, Michele Bandini, Nick Filardi, and Clayton Cowles, Bruce Wayne tracks down Zur-En-Arrh’s Robin (a clone made from Bruce’s DNA) and brings him back to Batman’s brownstone. The Caped Crusader discovers that his clone is dying due to Zur-En-Arrh artificially aging the young man but not providing a way to stop it. Batman resolves to save Robin’s life and thankfully stumbles into a windfall of cash left behind by Zur-En-Arrh. Batman spends weeks trying to save his clone’s life to no avail.

Batman tells Catwoman that his new manor could be a fresh start for the both of them.

After Bruce’s clone passes, he gathers the Bat-Family’s members to meet him in Old Gotham. As Bruce renovates a dilapidated manor, he informs his team of a plan to revitalize the area with his new funds. Not only is he buying up lots to create affordable housing and green spaces for the city, but Batman is also making a new home for the Bat-Family to live in, Pennyworth Manor. Though it isn’t as big as Wayne Manor, Batman promises there is a home for everyone in the team’s new base.

Batman lays his clone to rest on the new property just as Catwoman arrives. The two catch up and share a laugh over the strange events in their lives. Bruce apologizes for everything that happened between them in “Gotham War”, which Selina accepts. Batman tells Catwoman that his new manor could be a fresh start for the both of them. Though Selina turns Bruce down, she takes him up on his offer to see what Batman has planned for the future of Gotham City.

"Gotham War" Nearly Drove the Bat and the Cat Apart

Batman and Catwoman are no strangers to drama, but the entirety of Gotham felt the effects of their last tiff. After the events of Knight Terrors (which followed immediately after his trek across the multiverse), Bruce fell into a deep sleep that lasted weeks. When he woke up, he discovered a radically different Gotham, one where Gotham’s biggest villains were floundering and street crime had pretty much plummeted. The driving force behind this change? A new plan by Catwoman that retrained Gotham’s henchmen into professional cat burglars.

Read the entire drama between Bruce and Selina in Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War (2024)!

Rather than helping Gotham’s biggest bad guys, Catwoman’s network targeted the elite, which led to a major reduction in crime. All Selina asked was that the Bat-Family look the other way. Most of Gotham’s heroes agreed that this effort should at least be studied, but Batman vehemently opposed it and promised that he’d bring Catwoman and her partners down by any means necessary. Unbeknownst to everyone, Batman’s emotions were being manipulated by Zur-En-Arrh, who wanted to isolate Bruce from the Bat-Family.

Bruce did everything he could to dismantle Selina’s operation and it drove a serious wedge between the two. However, Batman and Catwoman were forced to team up, along with the rest of the Bat-Family, when Vandal Savage seized Selina’s network of thieves as part of a plan to regain his immortality. Savage called down a meteor that would have leveled Gotham had it not been stopped by Red Hood. Unfortunately, Batman and Catwoman split ways at the end of the event, leaving much of their tensions unresolved.

What Does the Future Hold for Batman and Catwoman?

This is the first time that Batman and Catwoman have been together since that major conflict. Thankfully, since the two last met, Bruce has had his mind purged of Zur-En-Arrh’s influence and is thinking clearly for the first time in months. It’s sad that it had to take so long, but by this point, intense drama just comes with the territory of Bruce and Selina’s relationship. Of course, Catwoman appears to be drawing a line at the rekindling of any romance, but she and Batman are finally on solid ground once again.

...at the end of the day, Bruce loves Selina with every fiber of his being.

It’s great that the two have finally resolved their differences because Batman is going to need Catwoman more than ever. Absolute Power has come to the DC Universe and Amanda Waller is going power-mad. The first issue showed Waller launching her coordinated attack on the DC Universe’s superhumans and while Batman has yet to be formally apprehended, he’s on his own. However, solicitations for future Batman issues have revealed that the Dark Knight is taking the fight to Waller and that Catwoman is going to be aiding Batman.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing that gives a hint of what lies beyond Absolute Power. That being said, this issue makes it clear that despite everything that’s happened between the two, Batman and Catwoman are always going to be close allies. They might hurt one another, they might find themselves on opposite lines occasionally. But at the end of the day, Bruce loves Selina with every fiber of his being. He might have been screwed up for a bit thanks to Zur-En-Arrh, but Batman and Catwoman are finally making their first steps towards building something again.

Nothing Can Keep Bruce and Selina Apart

From dashed weddings to all-out war, Batman and Catwoman have seen the best and the worst of each other. While fans shouldn't expect to hear wedding bells anytime soon, this is a great development for Selina and Bruce. It's clear that Batman wants to do better for all the people who are important to him, including Catwoman. Hopefully, readers will be seeing a lot more of Catwoman with the Bat-Family now that Batman has finally opened the door for her again.

Batman #149 is available now from DC Comics.

Batman #149 (2024) Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artists: Michele Bandini and Steve Lieber

Colorist: Nick Filardi

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover Artist: Jorje Jimenez