Transgender actress joins Batgirl to play the heroine's transgender best friend

According to foreign media Variety, transgender actress Ivory Aquino (Tales of the City, When We Rise) has joined the new DC film Batgirl, playing the role of Batgirl Barbara Gordon's best friend, transgender Alysia Yeoh, the first transgender character in a DC live-action movie.

The Batgirl movie will be released on HBO Max, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah, and written by Bumblebee screenwriter Christina Hossen. Leslie Grace plays Barbara Gordon, J.K. Simmons plays Commissioner Gordon, Michael Keaton plays Batman, Brendan Fraser plays the villain Firefly, and Jacob Scipio also stars.

Batgirl's real identity is Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham Police Commissioner Gordon. This character has appeared many times in "Batman" film and television works, and has served as the heroine of the animation "The Lego Batman Movie", but she has never had her own independent movie.