We now know who Bad Boys for Life star Jacob Scipio will be playing in the upcoming Batgirl movie. Previously, it had been reported that Scipio had joined the DC movie in a mystery role, and the actor later teased that it would be a character who first appeared in the comics. In a new interview with E! News, lead star Leslie Grace let the cat out of the bag by divulging that Scipio is playing mob boss Anthony "Tony" Bressi.
In DC Comics lore, Bressi feuded with Firefly at one point in the Batgirl: Year One storyline; Brendan Fraser plays Firefly in the HBO Max film. Firefly burns down Bressi's mansion when their quarreling escalates, resulting in Batgirl coming to save the day, though Bressi helped the superhero with dragging her father, Commissioner Gordon, to safety from the flames. Gordon is also included in the film with J.K. Simmons reprising the role.
It's not clear how much of this will inspire the live-action adaptation of Bressi in Batgirl, but Scipio did tease that he will have a "situation" with Barbara, for better or for worse. The actor previously addressed his role in a PopSugar interview, holding back from revealing his role but confirming that it was in fact a character first introduced in the comic books. As Scipio said at the time:
"Obviously, I have to pick my words quite carefully here because my tongue is pretty tied with it. But I can say that my character is in the comics. He wants to make Gotham a better place. And he's in a situation with Batgirl. Let's just say that."
Batgirl May Have a Long Future in the DCEU
Batgirl is in part a detective story as well as an action-packed superhero film. Grace also said how she basically plays two characters in the film, as Babs Gordon is always juggling her secret identity with her masked persona, each with their own personality. It's something that her mentor Batman, who's played by a returning Michael Keaton in the new movie, will certainly be able to relate to very well.
"I will say one of my favorite things about our script and the heart of our movie is that you get to see Babs and this alter-ego that she summons up, Batgirl, vacillate between the nuances of life and good and bad and black and white, and that there so much in between. At the end of the day, in Gotham, so there's always a case, right? It's kind of like an investigative story, it's a detective story, so she does have a case that drives her into these crazy situations."
If all goes well, we could end up seeing a lot more of Leslie Grace as Barbara "Babs" Gordon in the DCEU. The actress has said that early sequel talks have started, but nothing serious will be considered until the film is released to see how the fans react to it. Batgirl does not yet have an official premiere date at this time but is expected to arrive on HBO Max in late 2022.