Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger)

"Oh, you're beautiful...in an old-fashioned kind of way. But I'm sure we can make you more today?"

- The Joker upon seeing Vicki in person at the museum for the first time

Vicki Vale is a beautiful prize-winning photo journalist who attempted to uncover the secret of the mysterious Batman and inadvertently became the object of obsession for the Joker.

Corto Maltese Revolution
Vicki Vale spent several weeks photographing the aftermath of the Corto Maltese Revolution.

Pursuing the 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 on the hope that they might get a lead on the existence of Batman from one of the guests, particularly Commissioner James Gordon, not suspecting that their host for the night was, in fact, Batman. Vicki and Alexander found themselves lost inside the cavernous Wayne Manor, and eventually ended up in Bruce Wayne's Armory. Unbeknownst to Vicki and Alexander, a bemused Bruce Wayne was quietly following them as they made several snide comments about his armory collection. Bruce then introduced himself to a surprised Vicki, having earlier told Vicki during the party 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 have trouble communicating as they are each sitting at the end of an incredibly long table. When Vicki asks if Bruce likes eating in here, he admits that he has never been in the room before. He then suggests that they have dinner somewhere else, which Vicki gladly accepts. The two are later seen in a cozier room with Alfred, who tells them stories about Bruce. After Alfred leaves, Vicki expresses her affection for Alfred, who reminds her of her grandfather and of similar memories at another house. She then admits that she finds it hard to associate Bruce with some of the objects that he possesses. Afterward, a "little drunk", amorous, and sexy Vicki is walking with Bruce up a flight of stairs, and she staggers and starts taking off her shoes. Bruce, a little tipsy too, takes off her other shoe and kisses her passionately. The two then are together in bed, with Vicki completely asleep and Bruce sleepless. Vicki awakes in the middle of the night and sees Bruce while training hanging upside down (like a bat). Vicki starts to have feelings for Bruce. 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. She decides to follow him and her tailing leads up to an alley, where Bruce stops to let two roses in a precise point of the road. Meanwhile, the Joker discovers Vicki Vale and develops an obsession. He arranges a fake date for Vicki at an art museum, in which Vicki thought Bruce made the date. After arriving, the Joker murders all the patrons except for Vicki, who was given a gas mask beforehand. After she rejects the Joker's advances, Batman comes in and rescues her. During the ensuing fight between Batman and the Joker's henchmen, Vicki takes pictures of Batman with her camera and puts the film in her bra. Afterwards, Batman takes her back to the Batcave, where he gives her information to give to the press about the Joker's smilex gas, chemically altered cosmetic products that cause the wearers to laugh hysterically until death, where they are left with ghastly grins on their faces. As Batman explains this to her, Vicki tries to get a closer look at Batman's face, but he manages to avoid letting her get too good a glimpse. Vicki realizes that Batman could have sent the information about the smilex gas to the press himself and suspects that there is something else he wants. When she asks Batman about this, Batman admits that there is something that he wants. When Vicki asks what that is, Batman pulls her into an embrace and sedates her with sleeping gas, causing her to fall unconscious. Vicki awakens the next morning in her bed in her apartment. After feeling her breasts, Vicki realizes that Batman removed the film (which possibly had a picture of Batman unmasked) while she was unconscious. Later, Bruce tries to reconcile with Vicki at her apartment. He decides to tell her the truth about his dual life; however, the Joker arrives and shoots Bruce when he tries to fight him. The Joker leaves, upset by Vicki's "betrayal", and it is discovered Bruce blocked the bullet using a decorative silver tray. She eventually learns of the alley where Bruce went before: It was the site of his parents' murder.

The Joker continues his reign of terror on Gotham by chemically altering cosmetic products. This causes the wearer to laugh hysterically until death, where they are left with a ghastly grin on their face. In the Batcave, Bruce becomes obsessed with stopping the Joker, believing him to be the murderer of his parents. At this time, Alfred lets Vicki into the Batcave, with the hopes that she can convince him that he doesn't need to be Batman. They both admit that they do love each other, before Bruce changes into Batman and takes off.

During this time, the Joker begins to attract the Gothamites to the 200th Anniversary Parade, with promises of cash. Vicki and Knox arrive to investigate the Joker. However, he uses this opportunity to release his smilex gas, which will poison and kill everyone in Gotham.

Batman uses the Batwing to safely remove the smilex gas. The Joker then takes Vicki hostage and forces her to the top of Gotham Cathedral. Batman follows them to the top, and fights off Joker's thugs, while Vicki uses her feminine wiles to supposedly seduce the Joker in order to buy time for Batman. The Joker pulls both Batman and Vicki off the cathedral ledge. As they barely hang on, the Joker tries to escape via helicopter, but Batman wraps a batarang around his ankle and connects it to a stone gargoyle. The weight of the gargoyle pulls the Joker down to the streets below, killing him on impact.

As Gotham is lighting the Bat-Signal for the first time, Vicki says good-bye to Knox. Alfred is waiting for her, and tells her that Master Bruce might be late, in which she replies, "I am not the least bit surprised".

After Batman
It was revealed that Vicki and Bruce separated, due to the fact that Vicki was unable to deal with Bruce's duality. In Batman Returns, Selina Kyle asks Bruce if he has a girlfriend. Bruce mentions that he was recently dating a woman called "Vicki", to which Selina cheekily inquires, "ice skater or stewardess?". When Bruce confirms that he and Vicki ended their relationship because Vicki could not deal with Bruce's "difficulty with duality", Selina, facing a similar dilemma, sees a kindred spirit in Bruce and begins a romantic relationship with him.

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.
 * In Sam Hamm's draft of Batman Returns, Vicki Vale would have returned, like Jack Napier (but the latter in flashbacks). However, when Tim Burton returns as director, this idea was scrapped.

Trivia

 * 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.
 * Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen Barkin, Robin Duke, Kate Capshaw, Glenn Close, Joan Cusack, Madonna, Geena Davis, 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, Michelle Pfeiffer, 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 Sean Young, the original choice, departed.
 * Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but broke her collarbone while filming a horse-riding scene with Michael Keaton. The scene was subsequently written out of the script. Tim Burton suggested replacing Young with Michelle Pfeiffer but Keaton, who was in a relationship with Pfeiffer, believed it would be too awkward. She went on to portray Catwoman in Batman Returns. Jon Peters suggested Kim Basinger and she was cast.
 * In Sam Hamm's original script, the first time we see Smylex's effect (called Smylenol in the script) is on the two female models, who are only represented as cardboard cut-outs in Joker's commercial. The original scene has them in a bikini photo session with a photographer who is urging them to smile more as he snaps away. The girls begin to giggle, which at first pleases the photographer, then their giggles become laughter, then uncontrollable helpless hysterics, which has the photographer going from mild annoyance to complete horror as the exhausted girls expire from forced hilarity, with the ghastly Joker-like grins frozen on their faces. In the novel adaption of the film, the photographer is revealed to be Vicki Vale.
 * While actress Kim Basinger has blond hair, Vicki Vale was red headed in the comics. According to Batman creator Bob Kane, Vale was supposed to be blond in the comics, and her hair came out red due to a coloring error in her first appearance.
 * Vicki Vale screams approximately 23 times when in danger (or just when she thinks she's in danger) and gasps 6 times.

Appearances

 * Batman
 * Batman (1989) Movie Comic Adaptation
 * Batman (1989 Movie Novelization)
 * Batman Returns (mentioned only}

See

 * Vicki Vale