Catwoman Answered Batman’s Marriage Proposal in Shocking Fashion

In his 80-odd years of fictional life, Batman has faced some serious challenges. He’s fought super-villains of all shapes and sizes. He’s saved the world from aliens and conquerers from other dimensions. He even died once. (He got better.) But soon he will face his greatest test: Domestic life.

After months of waiting, his old arch-nemesis Catwoman finally gives Batman an answer to his marriage proposal. Aaaaaaaaaaand (SPOILERS, obviously) it’s a yes. I’m told Bruce was going to buy her a ring, but she’d already stolen the one she wants. (She’s a cat burglar folks! These are the jokes.)

Batman writer Tom King told USA Today that an upcoming storyline about the now-engaged Batman and Catwoman will take readers “someplace you haven’t seen before.” I hope that place is, like, shopping at Whole Foods on a really busy Saturday morning, or arguing over paint swatches for the living room. That is the kind of relatable drama that I want to see from married Batman.

Batman is by no means the first superhero to tie the knot. In the ’90s, both Superman and Spider-Man got married to their longtime girlfriends (Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson, respectively), although both life changes were eventually undone by later stories (DC rebooted their entire line a few years ago, resetting Superman and Lois, while Marvel did a storyline where Mary Jane and Peter agreed to end their marriage (and forget it ever happened) in order to save Aunt May’s life. Also Superman and Lois are married again now. Comics, man. They’re weird sometimes.

King told USA Today that unlike Spider-Man, who mostly enjoyed a happy marriage to MJ, Batman’s wedded bliss is rife with dramatic potential:

Most superheroes, you make them happy and you end conflict — you give Spider-Man a wife and where do you go from there? But Batman’s the opposite: You give him happiness and you create conflict, because he’s fundamentally a sad character.

So good luck Catwoman! I hope you like your marriages grim and gritty, because that is the only way Batman is allowed to do anything these days. You can read the whole proposal and response in the pages of Batman #32.