There’s no more cause for speculation — Ivory Aquino is officially playing the first transgender character in the DC Comics cinematic universe.
Batgirl, Warner Bros.’ direct-to-streaming film slated for release on HBO Max later this year, has officially cast Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, Barbara “Batgirl” Gordon’s roommate and friend. But while queer audiences may already know Aquino from her portrayal of civil rights activist Cecilia Chung in 2017’s When We Rise or her performance in Netflix’s adaptation of Tales of the City, Yeoh is a much lesser-known (not to mention fictional) entity.
Here’s everything you need to know about Babs’ bestie before the movie — though we should note that if you’re going read the comics in advance, there are spoilers for Yeoh’s storyline below.
Created by writer Gail Simone and artist Ardian Syaf in 2011 as part of DC Comics’ “New 52” continuity reboot, Alysia and Barbara’s lives were intertwined after the masked vigilante responded to her “Greg’s List” ad for a roommate. The pair slowly warmed up to one another, although Yeoh’s involvement in grassroots activism put her ideologically at odds with Bat-family patriarch Bruce Wayne, whom she saw as an out-of-touch billionaire gentrifier — not knowing her roommate was one of Batman’s most trusted allies.
Of course, Barbara wasn’t the only person keeping a secret about her identity because Yeoh wasn’t yet out as trans. But after their apartment was raided by the Joker’s gang and Barbara disappeared, the two reunited and spilled almost all of their secrets to one another: Babs told Alysia that she’d once been shot and paralyzed by the Joker, and Alysia finally felt safe enough to come out to Barbara, after which the two shared a tearful hug.
(Barbara still kept her identity as Batgirl to herself, though, because superheroes love to insist that doing so will keep their loved ones safe, despite all evidence to the contrary.)
