As Warner Bros. continues to expand its offerings based on DC comic book characters, there are more features that will be HBO Max exclusives as well. The streaming site already offers series like Titans and Doom Patrol, but projects centered on Zatanna and Batgirl are also on the way. In The Heights star Leslie Grace has been tapped to star in Batgirl, and now, it appears the project has found its villain.
Brendan Fraser, most famous for his role in The Mummy trilogy of films, is reportedly set to star as comic book villain Firefly. Fraser is no stranger to the world of DC. He currently stars in Doom Patrol as an ill-fated race car driver turned Robot Man. There, he’s a guy who just wants to do the right thing but struggles to be the hero he wishes himself to be. The villainous Firefly will be a pretty different role for him. Firefly hasn’t appeared in live-action much, so some fans might not be altogether familiar with the character.
Firefly’s Origin Story
The first comic book Firefly was a man named Garfield Lynns. Debuting in Detective Comics in 1952, he was created by France Herron and Dick Sprang. Lynns worked in special effects for movies and theater, but when he hit a rough patch in his life, he opted to use his knowledge of effects to help him rob a theater.
When Batman and Robin caught him in the act, Batman mistakenly followed an actual firefly, thinking it was one of Lynss’ cigarettes lit in the distance. That action inspired Lynns to make a career out of his knowledge of lighting and pyrotechnics. It might not be the greatest origin story for a Batman villain, but it stuck - until Crisis On Infinite Earths in the ‘80s.
Following the events of Crisis On Infinite Earths, DC comics became a more streamlined universe. Many origin stories were rewritten in the universe colliding event, and some characters were eliminated completely. Garfield Lynns wasn’t eliminated, but his origin story was expanded and became a bit darker. He was still a special effects expert, but he and his sister grew up in poverty, and he eventually decided to use his skills to destroy all of the places he and his sister couldn’t as children.
This version of Lynns was also a pyromaniac, experiencing compulsions to start fires. That eventually led to him being severely burned and actually creating a fireproof Firefly suit for himself to commit his crimes. Normally a Batman rogue, he doesn’t usually appear on his own, but as part of a larger team of villains.
The New Fireflies
In Batman #126, another villain decided to take on the codename Firefly for his villainous efforts. This was Ted Carson. While the first Firefly was normally a Batman villain, Carson spent quite a bit of time antagonizing other members of the Bat-family. Both Nightwing and Batgirl battled him. Unlike Lynns, Carson was from a wealthy family but lost most of his money in gambling ventures. He turned to crime to replace his family fortune, though he was rebooted as a teacher in DC’s New 52 era.
Carson’s protege in the comics became Bridgit Pike, added to comic book canon after the character was developed for the Gotham television series. She’s the first female Firefly, and like her predecessors, didn’t have superpowers, but a suit designed to be fireproof. She was a childhood friend of future Catwoman Selina Kyle and didn’t set out to be a villain. Instead, Pike was forced into the life by her family, and eventually tried to get out, but set her brothers on fire to do it. According to Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller, Pike was developed to become Firefly because they wanted to demonstrate that even a “loving and compassionate person can turn to darkness when life pushes him or her that way.” It’s unlikely that either the second or third of Firefly versions will appear in Batgirl.
Firefly’s Batgirl Connection
What is likely is that Brendan Fraser will be bringing a version of Garfield Lynns to life because it’s this version that has the biggest comic book connection to Batgirl. He might not be prolific in his altercations with the character, but he makes a large impression in Batgirl: Year One, a 2003 miniseries that retold the origin story of Barbara Gordon taking up the cowl.
In the miniseries, Barbara is ready to give up the superhero life. She’s pulled back in when Killer-Moth and Firefly team up in a scheme against the heroes of Gotham. While Killer-Moth is the real villain for the story, it’s Firefly who goes rogue and starts using his affinity for fire to try to get what he wants. Not only does he let loose on some of Gotham’s organized crime families, but also on the police force. It’s his rampage that makes Barbara decide she needs to be Batgirl.
Since then, Firefly has often been part of another villain’s plot instead of a main villain, so it makes the character an interesting choice to be Batgirl’s first solo movie villain. Casting Brendan Fraser in the role might mean the villain is about to become a larger part of the DCEU if Batgirl is expected to connect to the main continuity of DC’s movie universe.
Batgirl is expected to film in 2022.