Los Angeles, Oct 26 (IANS): Brendan Fraser, who faded out from Hollywood after 'George of the Jungle' and 'The Mummy', has been cast in DC's upcoming 'Batgirl' movie. He will play the villainous Firefly, a sociopath with a passion for pyrotechnics, opposite Leslie Grace, reports 'Variety'.

Specific plot details for 'Batgirl' have been kept under wraps, but it is known that it centres on Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham police commissioner Jim Gordon.

J.K. Simmons is returning to portray Jim Gordon after first playing the character in Zack Snyder's 'Justice League'.

'Batgirl' is set to premiere on HBO Max, the streaming service backed by WarnerMedia, sometime in 2022. The project is notable because, according to 'Variety', "it marks one of the first major DC Comics properties to skip theatres in favour of streaming".

Plus, it is one of the studio's rare comic book adventures -- following 'Wonder Woman' and its sequel, as well as Margot Robbie's 'Birds of Prey' -- to spotlight a female superhero.

For Fraser, it has been a good year. He recently landed the lead role in Darren Aronofsky's next film 'The Whale', an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's play about a 600-pound middle-aged recluse, and he will be seen in Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.