Black Widow-inspired cinematic catsuit competition: You be the judge

Adam Pockross

Like most people who watched "Marvel's The Avengers," I was totally blown away by the visual splendor that unveiled before me. Sure, seeing the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier take off was neat, but what really wowed me is how darn good Scarlett Johansson -- aka Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow -- looks in her tight black catsuit. Meow!

After I thought long and hard about the outfit, I began to wonder how Black Widow's donning of the catsuit compares with other tightly clad heroines of cinematic glory. But with so many qualified candidates, how could I possibly decide who is most suited to wear the suit?

[Related: Black Widow kicks butt in our "The Avengers" clip]

Technically speaking, I can't. So I decided I'd leave that task up to the experts and let you fine people vote in the poll below. However, because of logistics, there are only seven poll entries available.

So it was up to me and some hard-working editors to narrow down a very strong field of candidates. It was a difficult job, but someone had to do it.

When this process first began, I was adamant that both Catwomen -- Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry -- be included. But after delving into the actual definition of "catsuit" (or at least the one provided by Wikipedia), it was apparent they couldn't truly make the cut:

"A catsuit is a close-fitting one-piece garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as Lycra, chiffon, spandex (after 1959), leather, latex, PVC, or velour, and frequently close using a zipper at the front or back. Catsuits, which date from at least the 1940s, can be worn by both men and women, and, despite the name, do not generally have feline characteristics."

No feline characteristics = No Catwomen. So that got rid of two potential poll candidates. But it didn't necessarily eliminate Halle Berry, who dons the leathers with poise and beauty again as Storm in the "X-Men" movies. But if you include one, don't you have to include all the X-Men? And can we really have a fair and balanced catsuit competition with four of the seven spots taken up by X-Men? No. As one goes, they all go, and so all of them went.

[Related: Five Film Facts about "The Avengers"]

As for the other honorable mentionables (Jennifer Garner as Electra, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Pamela Anderson as Barb Wire… ), after exhaustive calculations, algorithms, and efficiency ratings, they just fell short to the candidates you see below. But if, after scrolling through the gallery below, you still feel strongly that our candidates don't represent your winner of the tight black catsuit competition, by all means comment away.