In the Heights star Leslie Grace lands Barbara Gordon role in HBO Max’s Batgirl

After roping in Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to helm Batgirl as an HBO Max Original, the film has found its Barbara Gordon in the form of Leslie Grace, who won the role over other candidates such as Zoey Deutch, Isabella Merced, and Haley Lu Richardson.

The Latin Grammy-nominated musician and singer is best known for her recent role in the musical film In the Heights, and will become the second actress to portray Batgirl in a live-action film. The honour of being the first went to Alicia Craig, who donned the heroine’s cape back in the 1996 Batman & Robin movie.

Details on the project remain under wraps as of now, and it’s unclear if this Batgirl big-screen outing will be a standalone entry, or feature a connection with the Batman movies. What’s known, though, is that it won’t be getting a theatrical release in the U.S, and will bow on HBO Max as one of the first major exclusive DC titles.

Batgirl is expected to start filming later this year, with Kristin Burr and Christina Hodson serving as producer and scriptwriter respectively.