‘Batgirl’ Has Been Found – and So Has Barbara Gordon – as ‘In the Heights’ Star Leslie Grace Earns the Role
Barbara Gordon has been found, Coincidentally, so has Batgirl.
Deadline reports that Leslie Grace, recently seen singing and dancing her way through In the Heights on HBO Max, has been cast as Barbara Gordon in the upcoming DC Film Batgirl, which will be one of the first major DC properties to debut exclusively on the streamer.
Batgirl is but one of the films coming soon the expand the Bat-wing of the DC Cinematic Universe, including a standalone movie for The Flash featuring Michael Keaton’s and Ben Affleck’s dark knight, Robert Pattinson’s first outing as The Batman, and even a possible Nightwing movie.
Plot details are not available, but it should be an origin story for the superhero. Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, will be the character in the cowl in this version. Gordon is the most established version of the Batgirl character and was first introduced in in the comics back in 1961 as Betty Kane.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the filmmaking duo behind Bad Boys for Life, will be directing the film. Christina Hodson (Bumblebee, Birds of Prey) will write the screenplay. Filming is expected to begin sometime in November and no release date has been set.
Grace was selected after an exhaustive search for the film’s lead. She reportedly beat out several formidable contenders, including Five Feet Apart actress Haley Lu Richardson, Dora and the Lost City of Gold star Isabela Merced and Zoey Deutch of Set It Up.
Grace’s first starring role was in the Warner Bros. musical In the Heights, which was directed by Jon M. Chu and adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical. In the movie, which debuted in theaters and on HBO Max in June, Grace portrayed the smart, compassionate Nina Rosario, alongside a cast that included Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera and Corey Hawkins.