Every superhero needs at least one formidable supervillain to clash with when they’re starring in a movie. In the case of Batgirl, Leslie Grace’s version of Barbara Gordon will face off against Garfield Lynns, a.k.a. Firefly, played by The Mummy’s Brendan Fraser. This will be the DC Comics antagonist’s live-action cinematic debut, and some Batgirl set photos have emerged showing that Fraser’s Firefly costume looks downright creepy!
You can head over to Batgirl Film News to see the photos for yourself, but basically Batgirl is delivering a Firefly costume that’s a nice blend of looking homemade while still honoring how the villain is usually depicted in the comics. Brendan Fraser’s Firefly is well equipped to unleash his pyromania on Gotham City, with flamethrowers attached on each arm hooked up to a massive fuel tank on his back, enough padding and insulation so he doesn't catch on fire, and a helmet with a proper breathing apparatus so that he doesn’t choke on smoke. As if being caught in a massive blaze wasn’t bad enough, seeing that this guy was responsible for it could cause further psychological trauma.
The Garfield Lynns version of Firefly debuted in 1952’s Detective Comics #184, and Batgirl will be the character’s second live-action appearance, the first being an Arrow Season 1 episode (a female version of Firefly named Bridgit Pike was a recurring villain on Gotham). Considering that Firefly was one of the leading baddies in the Batgirl: Year One take on Barbara Gordon’s entry into crimefighting, it’s fitting that he’ll be wreaking havoc in her DC Extended Universe adventure, and has me wondering if Killer Moth, his partner-in-crime from that comic book story, will also show up. This is Fraser’s second DC media outing, as he also plays Cliff Steele/Robotman in HBO Max’s Doom Patrol.
The Batgirl movie entered development back in early 2017, when Joss Whedon was attached to write and direct. Following his exit a year later, Birds of Prey and The Flash’s Christina Hodson was later brought in to tackle the script, and by May 2021, Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were hired to helm the movie that will be accessible with an HBO Max subscription. No specific plot details have been revealed for Batgirl yet, including whether this will depict Barbara Gordon’s superhero origin story or if she’s been wearing the cape and cowl for a while when we meet her.
Batgirl also features the return of J.K. Simmons’ Commissioner James Gordon and Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne, with the former having previously appeared in Justice League and the latter being brought back into the DC film space beforehand in The Flash this November. Other Batgirl cast members include Ivory Aquino as Barbara’s best friend Alysia Yeoh, as well as Jacob Scipio, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson and Ethan Kai in undisclosed roles. Cameras have been rolling in Glasgow since late November.
We’ll let you know what date Batgirl ends up being slotted in on the upcoming DC movies calendar, but for now, the next offering in this corner of the superhero film market is The Batman, which starts screening to the public this Thursday night and is set in its own universe. The next DCEU entry will be Black Adam, which arrives on July 29.
