Along with having starred in No Sudden Move earlier this year and joining projects like The Whale and Killers of the Flower Moon, Brendan Fraser has scored attention lately for playing Cliff Steele/Robotman on the HBO Max series Doom Patrol. Well, it looks like his DC Comics media resume is about to get bigger. Fraser has reportedly joined the Batgirl movie, and apparently he’ll be playing a longtime Batman adversary.
While this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, Deadline’s sources have heard that Brendan Fraser will appear in Batgirl as Firefly, who’s been part of Batman’s rogues gallery since his debut in 1952’s Detective Comics #154. Variety has also heard Fraser will play Firefly, so it looks like the character is finally making his film debut. Firefly has previously popped up in live-action twice, with the traditional Garfield Lynns version having shown up in an episode of Arrow and a female version named Bridgit Pike being a recurring villain on Gotham.
What’s unclear is if Brendan Fraser’s Firefly will be the main antagonist in Batgirl or if he’ll be selling his pyromaniacal services to someone else, whether they’re a fellow costumed criminal or one of Gotham City’s organized crime leaders. Either way, Brendan Fraser fans can get excited that in addition to his continued presence on Doom Patrol (which has been renewed for a fourth season), he’ll now get to appear in the DC Extended Universe. Firefly had previously been rumored to appear in The Batman, though we now that movie’s antagonistic slots have been filled by Paul Dano’s Riddler and Colin Farrell’s Penguin, with Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman providing anti-hero action on the side.
The DCEU’s Batgirl movie was first announced back in March 2017, with Joss Whedon being tapped to write, direct and produce. However, the following year, Whedon exited the project, and a few months later, Birds of Prey and The Flash’s Christina Hodson was hired to tackle the script. Then this past May, Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were selected to helm Batgirl. Like Blue Beetle, instead of being released theatrically, Batgirl will be an HBO Max exclusive movie.
Along with Brendan Fraser, Batgirl’s cast includes Into the Heights’ Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, J.K. Simmons reprising Commissioner James Gordon follow his appearance in Justice League, and Jacob Scipio, who played Armando Aretas in Bad Boys for Life, being cast in an undisclosed role. We’ll keep you apprised on Batgirl’s progression as more details come in, including how Fraser’s Firefly specifically factors into the story.
For now, keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on upcoming DC Comics movies. New episodes of Doom Patrol arrive Thursdays on HBO Max.
