Who Is Firefly, Brendan Fraser's Batgirl Villain?

Recently, it was revealed that Brendan Fraser is slated to play the villain in the upcoming "Batgirl" film on HBO Max. 

While previous Batman-themed movies have exhaustively focused on the caped crusader that moviegoers already know, and usually circled between a handful of classic foes, this newest entry in the franchise will take a page from the comics by highlighting a member of the Bat-family, facing off against an overlooked villain. In this case, the hero is Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl — played by Leslie Grace — while Fraser is rumored to be playing the serial arsonist known as Firefly. 

If that name sounds familiar, it's because while Firefly has never appeared in a movie before, he did show up in "Batman: The Animated Series," as well as the popular "Arkham" games. Nonetheless, compared to powerhouses like the Joker, Bane, and Ra's al Ghul, he's generally considered a small-fry bad guy, which makes him the perfect opponent for a younger vigilante like Batgirl. 

That said, for casual fans, Firefly will be a new kind of villain, so here's a brief look at the menace in store for Barbara Gordon's first movie.

While there are technically two Fireflies in the comics, the most popular version of the villain — and the one who will almost certainly appear in HBO Max's "Batgirl" — is Garfield Lynns. 

Lynns is a pyromaniac with a tragic childhood, who claims to see "visions" in the fires he creates, per the DC Database. He originally works as a pyrotechnics expert for the movie industry, but being a Gotham resident — and with Gotham as notoriously terrible as it is — he ends up being driven to a life of crime, with arson as his go-to method. To facilitate his incendiary compulsions, Lynns dons a heat-proof flight suit and carries a flamethrower. He was originally introduced in 1952 in "Detective Comics #184."

Warner Bros. likely will go with Lynns — and not his successor, Ted Carson — because Lynns is not only the more popular version of the character, but also the one who has interacted with Batgirl the most. He appeared frequently in the "Batgirl: Year One" comics as one of Killer Moth's allies. Both of these bug-based bad guys have a hesitant history of running together, so it's possible that Lynns may not be the only insect-inspired villain fans will see in "Batgirl" — though that's just speculation, for now.