Brendan Fraser will reportedly star in Warner Bros. and DC's upcoming Batgirl film as the villain Firefly, sources speaking to Deadline say. The Mummy and Doom Patrol star will join Leslie Grace (In the Heights) playing Barbara Gordon/Batgirl.
Deadline's sources say they haven't confirmed the information, but believe Fraser will play the DC villain Firefly, one of DC's longest-running villains, who was reimagined in the 1980's as a special effects artist-turned-pyromaniac wielding a flamethrower, various bombs, and a fireproof suit with a jetpack. Firefly has since served as one of Batman's recurring villains, with other characters taking the name throughout the years, including a "Lady Firefly" in 2018's Gotham TV series. It's currently unknown how much of Batgirl will adhere to the comics and Firefly's origin story.
Batgirl will debut on HBO Max, making it one of DC's first big IPs to launch on the streaming service.
Fraser's resurgence as a star actor is thanks in part to DC's Doom Patrol, where Fraser plays a former NASCAR driver whose brain is transplanted into a robotic body following a horrific racing incident. Fraser's role has proven to be a fan favorite over the course of its three seasons, with IGN's Jesse Schedeen noting that Fraser is able to "mine a wonderful amount of depth and pathos out of a character who spends most of his time trapped behind an almost expressionless metal shell" and calling him the "heart and soul" of the series.
Fraser is also set to star in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, a psychological drama following a 600-pound man (Fraser) attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Fraser's seemingly abrupt exit from the high-profile acting world has been attributed to different incidents: Surgeries stemming from injuries suffered on set of his various action films, as well as Fraser telling GQ in 2018 that Philip Berk, former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, sexually assaulted him at an event in 2003.
Fraser is also set to appear in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCapprio and Robert De Niro.
We got a big look at Batgirl, including concept art and comments from directors Adil El Arbit and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) and writer Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, Bumblebee), during DC FanDome 2021.
Image Credit: Jordin Althaus/E! Entertainment/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/has always believed in Brendan Fraser…for IGN.