Brendan Fraser lands Batgirl villain role as HBO Max feature gears up

Last Updated on October 26, 2021

The Brendanssiance continues! If you’re looking for a promising Batgirl villain, why not cast Brendan Fraser? The fan-favorite star of Encino Man, Blast from the Past, and The Mummy franchise has been cast as the villain in Warner Bros.’s latest DCEU project, Batgirl. Set to debut on HBO Max, the Batgirl film will pit Fraser against Leslie Grace who portrays Barbara Gordon in the movie. Rumors suggest Fraser may be playing Firefly, but that is unconfirmed at this time.

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the directors behind Bad Boys for Life, are set to helm Batgirl movie which has been penned by Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson and will debut on HBO Max.

Fraser currently stars on another HBO MAX/DC series, Doom Patrol. This marks his biggest profile project since 2010’s Furry Vengeance. Over the last decade, Fraser has been relegated to supporting roles and TV gigs, but his career has seen an uptick over the last couple of years with a role in Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move and his Doom Patrol turn as Robotman. Batgirl adds to Fraser’s upcoming slate which also includes Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Recently, Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah confirmed that the Dark Knight will appear in the new film planned for HBO Max. Before you get too excited, the duo has not revealed which version of Batman it will be.

While chatting with VRTNWS, Arbi and Fallah danced around revealing too much about The World’s Greatest Detective fighting crime alongside Barbara Gordon in the new film.

“Now you’re asking too much,” Arbi said. “I can say that it’s really Batman Batman.”

“But who, we can’t say,” Fallah added. When asked if the actor in question was someone who’d played Batman in the past, like Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, or Val Kilmer, Arbi said, “I don’t think we’re allowed to go into that much detail.”

Do you think Brendan Fraser will play Firefly in Batgirl? That strikes me as an odd choice, but perhaps Arbi and Fallah are looking to shake things up a bit by introducing a lesser-known villain into the mix. Created by France Herron and Dick Sprang, Firefly has been featured in various forms across DC Comics. The Pre-Crisis Firefly is Garfield Lynns, a special effects expert who turns to a life of crime. Firefly utilizes lightning effects and optical illusions to execute elaborate heists throughout Gotham City but is often foiled by Batman and members of the extended Bat-family.