When We Rise’s Ivory Aquino has joined the cast of the upcoming Batgirl feature film, confirming earlier reports that she’d appear in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film.
The transgender actor will portray Barbara Gordon’s best friend and roommate Alysia Yeoh, according to Variety. Alysia, who was first introduced in a 2011 issue of Batgirl written by Gail Simone and penciled by Ardian Syaf, is also transgender. Her inclusion in the film will mark the first time an openly trans character has appeared in a live-action feature film adaptation of a DC title.
Reports of Aquino’s casting first surfaced last week, when the film’s lead Leslie Grace posted a photo that appeared to show two women crossing the street on the film’s set to her Instagram story. In addition to tagging Aquino, Grace captioned the shot, “Barbara and Alysia.” Additional photos leaked from the set in the last few days also gave fans a first look at Grace wearing a comics-accurate version of the Batgirl costume.
Aquino is probably best known for portraying trans activist Cecilia Chung in 2017’s When We Rise, a documentary miniseries about LGBTQ+ rights in the United States. Aquino’s other credits include recurring roles in the television series Blue Bloods, FBI: Most Wanted and New Amsterdam.
Prior to Aquino’s casting as Yeoh, DC has made massive strides in broadening LGBTQ+ representation across several of its television series. The CW’s Supergirl series notably included the first trans superhero on TV with the introduction of Nicole Maines’ Dreamer, while the title superhero’s sister Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) came out as a lesbian on Season 2. The main character in The CW’s Batwoman has also always been depicted as a lesbian and was portrayed by gender-fluid actor Ruby Rose in Season 1 and bisexual actor Javicia Leslie in subsequent seasons.
Other DC properties that have done a good job at diversifying include the animated DC series Harley Quinn and the Margot Robbie-led Birds of Prey film, which both featured storylines involving LGBTQ+ characters.
While plot details for Batgirl remain scarce, it was previously suggested the film will draw heavily from 2003’s Batgirl: Year One, by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez. It’s also been confirmed that Michael Keaton will reprise his role as Batman in the film and Brendan Fraser will portray the villainous Garfield Lynns/Firefly. Additionally, Batgirl is rumored to set up a solo film centered on Black Canary.
Batgirl will premiere exclusively on HBO Max in 2022. The film does not yet have an exact release date at this time.
Source: Variety
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