DC and Warner Bros are getting in on the Brenaissance, with the one and only Brendan Fraser now joining the DCEU. Deadline reports that he’s been added to the Batgirl movie coming to HBO Max.
As of now, it’s unknown what role Fraser is playing, but it’s believed to be a villain, with Garfield ‘Firefly’ Lynns a possibility. In the comics, Firefly went from a low-level crook to an obsessive pyromaniac, becoming a mainstay of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery in the ’80s and ’90s. This wouldn’t be his first appearance in live-action, with a brief part in the first season of Arrowverse show, er, Arrow.
Fraser is no stranger to the DC universe – he’s a main character on Doom Patrol, based on the misfit team of the same name, portraying Cliff Steele, a former NASCAR driver who’s been transformed into a cyborg. However, something like Batgirl is a different speed, being more directly part of the fabric of the wider franchise, and joining the ranks of those who’ve contributed to the Bat-family’s wider on-screen success.
The cast here is starting to shape up quite nicely. Besides Fraser, we’ve got Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, J.K. Simmons as her father, Commissioner Gordon, and Jacob Scipio as an unspecified character.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are co-directing, with Christina Hodson writing the script. This version of Batgirl on the big screen has been in development since 2016, with the current crew and production starting to form in 2018. As yet, the only visual tease we’ve had is some concept art shared during DC FanDome.
First concept art from the upcoming #Batgirl movie, courtesy of #DCFanDome pic.twitter.com/02UKVAAjiJ
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) October 16, 2021
Though always great – if you haven’t seen ’90s movies Airheads and The Mummy, please do so as soon as humanly possible – Fraser has enjoyed renewed success of late. Besides Batgirl, he’s involved with Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, neither of which have release dates.
Batgirl is expected to arrive sometime in 2022.