Batgirl will reportedly feature DC Comics character Firefly as a villain. DC's long-gestating feature film, Batgirl chronicles the adventures of Barbara Gordon, a character created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff which replaced the previous incarnation, Betty Kane. Barbara is the daughter of Gotham City Police Department Commissioner Jim Gordon, who happens to be a very close associate of Bruce Wayne aka Batman. Over the years Barbara Gordon has been adapted for the mainstream media in various forms. The most renowned version is Yvonne Craig's portrayal of the character in Adam West's 1967 Batman TV series, although other live-action renditions, such as the one seen in Joel Schumacher's 1997 movie Batman & Robin, weren't as popular. Now Barbara is finally getting a proper film of her own, but it's taking some time to arrive.
The Batgirl film was first announced to be in development in 2017 with Joss Whedon set to write, direct, and produce the project. But Whedon exited Batgirl in 2018, suggesting that he wasn't able to get the story right. Birds of Prey writer, Christina Hodson, was then subsequently brought in to pen the script, and later Bad Boys for Life's Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, were also attached to direct with Cruella’s Kristin Burr producing. Initially, it looked like WB and DC were planning for the movie to play in cinemas, but earlier this year it was announced that Batgirl would skip a theatrical run and go straight to HBO Max as one of the streamer's original films. The film has since been making active progress, and it's currently on the lookout for talents to headline its main cast.
According to a report by The Illuminderdi, Batgirl will possibly include the DC villain Firefly. The addition of this character hasn't been explicitly confirmed, but as the site suggests, Batgirl is searching for a 50-60-year-old actor to play an evil, resentful ex-firefighter. This description aligns with one of the characterizations of Firefly, indicating that the comics antagonist will have an important part to play in the upcoming feature.
Created by France Herron and Dick Sprang, Firefly/ Garfield Lynns originally debuted as a sociopathic pyromaniac in 1952's Detective Comics #184. The character was a key adversary among Batman's central gallery of rogues, and he also went up against Batgirl as a protege of Killer Moth. But when Garfield was adapted for The CW's Arrow, his backstory was adjusted and he was instead portrayed as a firefighter who was abandoned by his crewmates while fighting a terrible fire. Garfield managed to survive but not without sustaining several burns. After the incident, Garfield became vengeful and went on a murderous rampage as Firefly to get revenge from his colleagues who had left him out to die.
Firefly's inclusion in the upcoming Batgirl movie gives some hints about the film's potential plotline. Since the villain was among the early foes the superheroine had to face, it is possible that Batgirl is going to be an origin story for Barbara Gordon that displays her transformation into Gotham's new vigilante and showcases her conflicts with the threats she encountered early on in her career. It's also quite likely that the movie will pull from the comic-book mini-series Batgirl: Year One, as it's during one of the arcs in the story that the vigilante comes across Firefly and defeats him. Additionally, if Firefly is in Batgirl, then it means that Killer Moth must be too. That is because the two largely went up against Barabara as a team, so it would make more sense for the live-action to honor that storyline. Fans will still have to wait and see how Firefly fits into the movie, although they can start anticipating a slew of updates from the movie, as the casting process is underway.
Source: The Illuminerdi
