A first look at Hathaway's Selina Kyle

Just hours after we got to see what the new Superman looks like, Warner Bros. has released a photo of Anne Hathaway dressed as Selina Kyle for the new batman film, Dark Knight Rises.

A few websites which have also posted this photo are referring to it as an image of Catwoman, but it's clearly just Selina Kyle. She may be in all black rubber-leather stuff - and she surely looks smoking, but this costume is more likely being used in a pre-Catwoman scene.

Selina Kyle was a 'cat burgalar' long before she was Catwoman, and the film will likely depict at least one such heist before her transformation into the iconic personality.

Now, it's also likely that the Catwoman costume will incorporate elements of this costume, but she's not Catwoman without the ears and claws.

It looks like they were serious when they announced a while back that Anne Hathaway's costume would not be as revealing as past Catwomans (Catwomen?).

We can't see the whole costume here due to the awesome motorbike-thing, but it looks like what she's got is more of a rubber jumpsuit, and while it's not loose, it's not exactly form-fitting.

I mean: compared to Michelle Phifer, who looked like she had to be painted into her shiny faux-leather costume, or Halle Berry who had a lot of exposed skin between the tattered pieces of her cat suit, well, this one looks downright puritan.

Frankly, the costume is more attractive for its slight conservation. I certainly don't think that they will get any complaints from fans over this image.

For those unfamiliar, Catwoman is the planned secondary villain for the upcoming Batman film, Dark Knight Rises, the final in the trilogy by Christopher Nolan.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman has always been an enigmatic figure in Batman's story, all the way back to the 'Golden Age' comics. Her goals have never been too far from the bat's, and occasionally they have even worked together for short times, but while both figures work outside the law to achieve their goals, Batman has never been happy with Catwoman's methods, and so they always come back to odds eventually.

Of course, the main difference is that Catwoman must steal to support her causes, while Batman is self-funded.

Dark Knight Rises is slated for a Summer 2012 release.