Last summer, word broke that Danny DeVito is making his comic book writer debut in Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1, a new one-shot special that celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Penguin’s first appearance in Detective Comics #48 in 1941. DeVito teamed with artist Dan Mora on “Bird Cat Love,” a short story that explores an unlikely romance between Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin and Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Danny DeVito explains.
In 1992, DeVito famously played Penguin in Batman Returns alongside Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. DeVito’s shared Batman connection with the actress is why he felt the need to reach out to Pfeiffer before writing the story.
“I did call Michelle and tell her that I was doing it,” said DeVito in a new interview with Forbes. “I said ‘Look, it’s like my fantasy and it’s my dream come true to have an incredible romance with such a beautiful woman. Oswald, I’m talking about, and Selina.’ She was very excited to hear about it.”
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“I’m so excited about it,” continued DeVito. “I’ve never done anything like that before but I’ve always been a big fan of DC. From the time I was a kid, I had giant collections of all kinds of comics. I love The Penguin, I love Oswald. And of course, doing the movie with Tim [Burton] was one of the highlights of my career. I love that character so much. It was thrust upon me at a time when I’ve always been in love with Catwoman. Not only Oswald being in love with Catwoman, but Danny being in love with Michelle Pfeiffer. I jumped on the opportunity and the first thing that came to mind was the romance.”
Within the story, Penguin and Catwoman find a common purpose during a worldwide pandemic. Naturally, it was inspired by the ongoing COVID crisis.
“It was in the middle of COVID and I said Look at what love can do,” said DeVito. “I just applied it to the story and I sat down and in a few weeks, I had knocked out the whole idea and wrote it and they responded to it and to have Dan Mora to do the artwork, it’s so brilliant. His stuff is just so masterful. I feel blessed to be in that company and the way it turned out, I couldn’t be happier.”
Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 is out in comic book stores now.
What do you think about DeVito’s Penguin and Catwoman romance story? Let us know in the comment section below!
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