There’s still much to be revealed about the upcoming Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace (In the Heights), but we’re relatively certain it’s going to deliver the world’s first transgender character in a big-budget superhero film.
Earlier this week, eagle-eyed fans spotted an Instagram story from Grace showing her holding hands with actress Ivory Aquino (When We Rise) while crossing the street, along with the caption “Barbara and Alysia 😍🦇” — a reference to Barbara Gordon, Batgirl’s alter ego, and Alysia Yeoh, a trans comic book character created by writer Gail Simone and artist Ardian Syaf in 2011.
The pair was also spotted in set photos taken on location in Glasgow this week, seeming to confirm that Aquino will appear in the film, even though her casting has not yet been announced.
The role would be a major one for Aquino, who publicly came out as trans after being cast as Cecilia Chung in When We Rise and who has since appeared in Netflix’s Tales of the City. And it would make sense because last October, Warner Bros. issued a casting call for “a transgender, Asian-American actress,” sparking widespread nerd-net speculation that Alysia would be making appearance in the 2022 film.
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Introduced during DC Comics’ “New 52” continuity reboot as Barbara Gordon’s roommate, the sassy and upbeat Alysia Yeoh’s time in the spotlight was short-lived, but she did get a whole issue devoted to her big, sappy, lesbian wedding (even if Barbara’s hetero drama ended up distracting her from the proceedings).
Now, it looks like she’s back in the mix, marking the first film in the DC cinematic canon (or “DCEU”) to (almost certainly) feature a trans character — handily beating out the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its messy relationship with LGBTQ+ representation.
This isn’t the first time a trans character will have made an appearance in a live-action DC adaptation. Nicole Maines scooped that honor in 2018 when she was cast as Nia Nal, or Dreamer, on The CW’s Supergirl. Maines has since gone on to write an original Dreamer story for DC Pride, a special anthology released last year during Pride Month.
With Grace and Aquino leading a cast that also includes the incomparable Brendan Fraser in a villainous role (likely the pyromaniac criminal Firefly), Batgirl is shaping up to be an extremely cool-looking flick. Heart eyes emoji, bat emoji, indeed.
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