As we reported earlier this week, David Ayer and Warner Bros. are formally moving ahead with Gotham City Sirens, the next instalment of the DC Cinematic Universe with Margot Robbie set to reprise her role as Harley Quinn.

DC Comics has no shortage of female villains and anti-heroes to call upon, but few are more recognisable than Catwoman. Played by such diverse actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer, Eartha Kitt and Halle Berry, Catwoman's easily the most recognisable female comic-book villain out there.

No less than six women have donned the cat's ears and become Selina Kyle, but who's going to be the seventh? We've got a few thoughts on the subject.

7. EMMY ROSSUM

She recently made news when she demanded equal pay with her co-stars on Shameless, something that was publicly supported by William H. Macy among others. Before Shameless, Rossum starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow and is next set to star in indie-comedy-biopic A Futile And Stupid Gesture, so she's got credentials on both ends of the spectrum. The question is whether or not she can bring an audience and if she can get on with the physical aspects of the character.

6. RUTH NEGGA

She's already done comic-book material with AMC's Preacher and Channel 4's Misfits, and she's on the cusp of breaking through to the mainstream with the Oscar-friendly drama, Loving. She's done big-budget blockbusters too, appearing in this summer's Warcraft and World War Z alongside Brad Pitt. Realistically, Negga doesn't need to do this as she'll most likely have her pick of roles after Loving and the Oscars. However, if she hypothetically was offered the role decided to take it on, she could really be special. It's too bad she wasn't in contention when Christopher Nolan was in charge because that could have really been something along the lines of Heath Ledger and Joker.

5. CARLA GUGINO

She's one year older than Ben Affleck and she's worked with Zack Snyder before - as a superheroine, no less - so Gugino should definitely be in contention. In fact, she even turned up in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice as the computer voice that Lex Luthor talks to when he's creating Doomsday. She recently starred in San Andreas, alongside The Rock and Alexandra Daddario, so she's still keeping up with the big budget blockbusters as well.

4. LUPITA NYONG'O

She's already in a major franchise (Star Wars), albeit in a small role (as the bar owner Maz Kanata), but Lupita Nyong'o hasn't really been given a chance to take the reigns in a major blockbuster. Her work has mostly been confined to smaller, independent films like Queen of Katwe or 12 Years A Slave. What's realistically keeping off Lupita out of contention for this is that she's been cast in a fairly significant role in Marvel's Black Panther. If, however, she pulls out of that, she'd make an excellent Catwoman because she has both the range and physicality to play the role.

3. TESSA THOMPSON

For our money, the most logical choice on this list. Her profile is slowly growing with supporting turns in Westworld, Salem and Creed. The catch? Like Lupita Nyong'o, she also is starring in a Marvel movie. Tessa Thompson's set to play Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, so that pretty much rules her out of contention for the role. It's a shame because, quite honestly, she's the best choice for it - particularly her performance on Westworld as the morally ambiguous company woman Charlotte.

2. NATALIE DORMER

The only other choice we think that comes close to Tessa Thompson is Natalie Dormer. Visually, she's got shades of Michelle Pfeiffer and she's got the physical thing down from her stint in the Hunger Games series. Not only that, audiences know her from Game Of Thrones and Elementary, so she's more than recognisable. She only had a brief role in the first Captain America film and she has no major productions lined up, according to IMDB. Don't be in the least bit surprised to see her name at the top of the actual casting list.

1. ALICIA VIKANDER

On paper, Alicia Vikander has to be the most likely and obvious choice for Warner Bros. to play Catwoman. She's very well known to both European and American audiences, which is where the vast majority of the money will be made up for Gotham City Sirens. This year alone has saw her flit between major tentpoles (Jason Bourne) and arthouse dramas (The Light Between Oceans). What's more, she's got her own thing coming up soon with Tomb Raider and she's yet to appear in a Marvel movie. As we said, she ticks all the boxes for the role so by raw data alone, she's the most likely to get it.