| Victoria Vale | |
 | |
| Alias(es) | Vicki Vale |
| Appeared in | Batman |
| Status | Alive |
| Actor | Kim Basinger |
Victoria "Vicki" Vale is a beautiful prize-winning photo journalist and the ex-girlfriend of Bruce Wayne.
Biography[]
Batman[]
Vicki joined the Gotham Globe where she teamed up with reporter Alexander Knox to track down the mysterious Batman. Vicki invited Alexander as her "plus one" for Bruce Wayne's charity benefit at Wayne Manor in the hope that they might get a lead on the existence of Batman from someone, particularly Commissioner Gordon. Vicki and Alexander found themselves lost inside the massive Wayne Manor, and eventually ended up in Bruce Wayne's Armory. Unbeknownst both, Bruce quietly followed them as they made several snide comments about his collection. Bruce then introduced himself to a surprised Vicki, as he told her during the party earlier that he didn't know who Bruce Wayne was.
Bruce then asked Vicki out on a dinner date. During dinner at Wayne Manor, the two had trouble communicating as they each sat at the end of an incredibly long dining table. When Vicki asked if he liked eating in there, Bruce admitted that he had never been in the room before, much to Vicki's amusement. He then suggested that they have dinner somewhere else, which Vicki gladly accepted.
The two were later seen in a cozier room with his butler, Alfred, who told them stories about Bruce, which Vicki liked. After Alfred left, Vicki expressed her affection for Alfred, and remarked to Bruce that Alfred really loved him a lot, which Bruce agreed with. Vicki then said that Alfred reminded her of her grandfather and similar memories at another house. Vicki then admitted that she found it hard to associate Bruce with some of the objects that he possessed. The two then went to bed together, with Vicki completely asleep and Bruce sleepless. Vicki awoke in the middle of the night and saw Bruce training with inversion equipment.
Vicki immediately started to have strong feelings for Bruce, the next morning insisting they go out. However, in order to keep Vicki at a distance, Bruce lied and told her he was leaving town. Feeling brushed off, Vicki became upset with Bruce and his secrecy. Vicki decided to follow him and her tailing lead up to an alley, where Bruce stopped and placed two roses in a precise point in the road. Vicki then later asked Alexander to find out what was so special about the alley where Bruce had been. Meanwhile, Vicki knowingly became a target of the Joker after he spotted her in a photo at City Hall. He arranged a fake date for Vicki at the Flugelheim Museum, in which Vicki thought that Bruce had made the date. After she arrived, the Joker murdered all of the patrons except for Vicki, who was given a gas mask beforehand. After Vicki rejected the Joker's advances, Batman crashed through the skylight above and rescued her. They escaped when Batman held her up and fired a Foefie Gauntlet, creating a zipline toward the main entrance. The pair fled the scene in the Dark Knight's armored car while Joker's Goons chased after them in two of their custom junkers.
During the ensuing fight between Batman and the Joker's henchmen, Vicki took pictures of Batman with her camera and put the film in her blouse. Afterwards, Batman took her to his underground lair where he gave her information for the press about the Joker's Smylex, which were chemically altered cosmetic products that caused the consumers to laugh hysterically until death, where they were left with ghastly grins on their faces. As Batman explained that to her, Vicki again tried to get a closer look at his face, but he managed to avoid letting her get too good a glimpse. Vicki realized that Batman could have sent the information about Smylex to the press himself and suspected that there was something else that he wanted.
When she asked Batman about that, he admitted that she was right; however, there was something else that he wanted. When Vicki asked what that was, Batman pulled her into an embrace and sedated her with sleeping gas, which caused her to fall unconscious. Vicki awoke the next morning in her bed at her apartment. After she felt her chest, Vicki realized that Batman had taken the film, to destroy the photo of him taken while unmasked. Later, Bruce tried to reconcile with Vicki at her apartment, having decided to tell her the truth about his dual life; however, the Joker arrived interrupting the two of them. Eventually Joker shot Wayne, he then turned to Vicki. He then reached over and grabbed Vicki's wrist while asking in anger, why it was that every time he came for her, someone always got in the way, and then released her.
Vicki convinced Alfred to let her see Bruce while working in the cave, with the hopes that she could convince Bruce that he didn't need to be Batman. They both admitted that they did love each other, while admitting that Bruce's duality would be a challenge for her. During that time, the Joker began to attract Gotham's citizens to Gotham's 200th Anniversary Parade, with promises of millions of dollars in cash. Vicki and Alexander arrived to investigate; she immediately began to document it with her camera. However, Joker used that opportunity to release Smylex, in his balloons, which would poison and kill everyone in Gotham Square. Vicki witnessed Batman use the Batwing to safely take the balloons from the area and then a vengeful Joker shooting the Batwing down onto the steps of the old cathedral. Vicki raced to the crash sight, but could not find Batman. The Joker then took Vicki hostage and forced her at gunpoint to climb to the top of the cathedral, while he followed closely behind her. As they climbed the stairs, Joker forced Vicki to leave behind her high heels and trench-coat possibly to lure Batman.
When they reached the top Vicki watched helplessly, as Joker used his Acid Flower to disconnect one of the cathedral's bells which then fell to the ground below and blocked the only entrance to the stairs so they wouldn't be followed, but Batman was already in hot pursuit. Following the trail of Vicki's discarded coat and shoes and narrowly avoiding the falling bell, Batman eventually reached the top. Vicki by this time had been forced to dance the waltz with Joker on the balcony and he had sent three of his goons to make sure Batman didn't interfere. Vicki eventually saw an opportunity to distract the Joker, and went for it by using her feminine wiles in order to seduce him so she could buy some time for Batman. She then watched as Batman beat the Joker senseless, vowing vengeance on him for killing his parents years ago. The fight continued out to the ledge of the cathedral with Batman punching the Joker over the side.
As they both looked over to see if Joker had survived, the Clown Prince of Crime pulled both Batman and Vicki off of the Gotham Cathedral ledge. As they barely hung on, the Joker insanely taunted them. He offered to give Vicki a hand back up, but it turned out to be a gag with a detachable joke hand which made Vicki scream with fright and on the verge of falling, but was quickly hoisted back up by Batman. Joker tried to escape via his helicopter, but Batman fired a bolo launcher around Joker's ankle and connected it to a stone gargoyle. The weight of the gargoyle pulled the Joker down to the streets below, and killed him on impact. Batman and Vicki suddenly lost their grip on the ledge and started falling too, but Batman activated another grapple which held on to one of the cathedral stone pillars allowing them to stop in mid air. Vicki then gave a sigh of relief and they both reached the ground safely.
As Gotham lighted the Batsignal for the first time, Vicki said good-bye to Alexander. Alfred waited for Vicki, and told her that Master Bruce might be late, in which she replied: "I'm not a bit surprised".
Batman Returns[]
Vicki later left Gotham City and ended her relationship with Bruce. When on another date, Selina Kyle asked Bruce if he had a girlfriend. Bruce mentioned that he recently dated a woman called "Vicki", to which Selina cheekily inquired: "ice skater or stewardess?". When Bruce confirmed that he and Vicki had ended their relationship because Vicki could not deal with Bruce's "difficulty with duality". Later, when Alfred brought up the topic of security and secrecy, Bruce sarcastically referenced Alfred's actions in casually letting Vicki Vale into the Batcave.
Relationships[]
- Alexander Knox - Partner.
- Bruce Wayne/Batman - Ex-boyfriend.
- Jack Napier/Joker - Enemy; deceased.
Appearances/Actresses[]
- Burtonverse (2 films)
- Batman (First appearance) - Kim Basinger
- Batman Returns (Mentioned only)
Behind the scenes[]
- Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki before being forced to bow out due to a horseback riding-related injury. Ironically, the horseback riding scene was removed from Batman when Kim Basinger joined the production.
- Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen Barkin, Robin Duke, Kate Capshaw, Glenn Close, Joan Cusack, Madonna, Jami Gertz, Geena Davis, Pheobe Cates, Judy Davis, Denny Dillon, Christine Ebersole, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Teri Garr, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Mariel Hemingway, Barbara Hershey, Holly Hunter, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Diane Keaton, Diane Lane, Kay Lenz, Jessica Lange, Lori Loughlin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Virginia Madsen, Kelly McGillis, Bette Midler, Catherine O'Hara, Tatum O'Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Jane Seymour, Cybill Shepherd, Brooke Shields, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, Lea Thompson, Kathleen Turner, Sela Ward, Sigourney Weaver and Debra Winger were all considered for the role of Vicki Vale after Young departed.
- Michelle Pfeiffer, who was dating Michael Keaton at that time, was asked to audition for Vicki Vale, but Keaton was against it, saying it would be awkward. Pfeiffer would later be cast as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Batman Returns alongside with Keaton.
- Originally, Vicki Vale wasn't supposed to be in the third act, basically. She didn't go into the tower. Kim Basinger convinced the filmmakers otherwise and initiated script rewrites.
- The first draft of Batman Returns was intended to be a direct sequel to the previous film. As a result, subplots and continuity from the first film that would have been addressed included Bruce Wayne proposing to Vicki at the end.
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Vicki has red hair, whereas in the movie, she is a blonde. According to Bob Kane, Vale was supposed to be blond in the comics, but her hair came out red due to a coloring error in her first appearance. This change was also brought over to Batman: Arkham City, where Vicki was a supporting character.
- Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) screams approximately twenty-three times when in danger (or just when she thinks she's in danger) and gasps six times.
- Alfred bringing Vicki Vale into the Batcave is often met with anger from longtime fans of Batman. However, screenwriter Sam Hamm and Director Tim Burton revealed that this decision was made due to the production falling behind. They needed a scene that would transition the film into its third act far quicker, thus this scene was written in.
Gallery[]
Batman[]
Promotional images[]
