90s heartthrob Brendan Fraiser has been cast as a key villain in the upcoming Batgirl feature in production for HBO Max. Fraiser will be playing Garfield Lynns a/k/a Firefly according to The Hollywood Reporter. Fraiser is probably best known for his roles in The Mummy franchise, and films like George of the Jungle, Encino Man, and Airheads. Fraser has been a part of the DC universe for the last few years. He provides the voice for Robotman and appears as Cliff Steele in flashbacks on Doom Patrol on HBO Max.
Firefly has been a relatively minor Batman villain until recently. He first appeared in Detective Comics #184 way back in 1952. Back then, he was not the pyromaniac he is today. He was a special effects artist that used lighting to create illusions to commit robberies.
In the 1980s, after the Crisis event, Firefly became a darker character, a pyromaniac, and a professional arsonist. He frequently faced off against the Bat-family. But in 2003, he became a major part of Batgirl: Year One, which retold the early days of Barbara Gordon’s career as the caped crimefighter. There, she faced off against Firefly and Killer Moth, another C-List Bat villain. Firefly has also appeared on various DC live-action projects, including Arrow and Gotham. In animated form, he has appeared on The New Batman Adventures and Justice League and also in the Batman: Arkham video games series.
Fraser joins Leslie Grace (In the Heights) who plays Batgirl/Barbara Gorda along with J.K. Simmons returning as Commissioner James Gordon. Also in the cast is Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys For Life). There is no word yet on who he will play. Perhaps he’ll play frequent Firefly partner Killer Moth or GCPD officer and Batgirl love interest Jason Bard. Batgirl is being helmed by directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life) and written by Flash and Harley Quinn screenwriter Christina Hodson.
Warner Brothers has a lot of comic book-inspired projects in the works. Many of them, like Batgirl, will be coming directly to HBO Max, including Peacemaker, Blue Beetle, and Green Lantern Series.
Batgirl will arrive on HBO Max sometime in 2022.
