The upcoming DCEU movie Batgirl has added Ivory Aquino to the cast. The transgender actor will play the role of Barbara Gordon’s best friend and roommate Alysia Yeoh.
Aquino’s addition to the film will mark the openly trans character who has appeared in a live-action feature film adaptation of a DC title. Yeoh’s character was first featured in the 2011 issue of Batgirl written by Gail Simone and penciled by Ardian Syaf, who is also transgender.
According to Variety, the actress will be joined in the film by Leslie Grace as the titular Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, J.K. Simmons, who is reprising his Justice League role as Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Michael Keaton, returning as Batman and expected to serve as a mentor to Barbara Gordon. Brendan Fraser will also make an appearance in the upcoming movie as the villain, Firefly.
Even before Aquino’s casting as Yeoh, DC has always taken a massive step to broaden the LGBTQ+ society representation across several of its television series. The CW’s Supergirl, Batwoman series, portrayed lesbian and the first trans superhero on TV.
Batgirl is written by Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey) and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life). Of course, Batgirl is just one of several DC Comics projects currently in the pipeline at HBO Max. The upcoming Robert Pattinson-led The Batman movie is getting two spinoff series on the streamer; the first is a Year One prequel about how Gotham City became so dangerous, while a second series will “delve into The Penguin’s rise to power in the Gotham criminal underworld.” Colin Farrell, who plays The Penguin in The Batman, will also play him on the small screen.
Batgirl is set to be released on HBO Max sometime in late 2022.