Ted Carson, also known as the Firefly, was the main antagonist of the now cancelled DC Extended Universe superhero film Batgirl. He was intended to be an adaptation of the chracter from DC Comics.
He was portrayed by Brendan Fraser and would've been his first villainous role.
History[]
The Batgirl movie was intended to be produced as a part of the DC Extended Universe. Set after the events of the Flash film where timelines and continuities would be reset, the film would have followed Barbra Gordon, portrayed by Leslie Grace, in her origin into the superhero Batgirl, joined by Batman, portrayed by Michael Keaton. Firefly was intended to be the main antagonist. The film would have been released directly to the streaming service HBO Max.
However, on April 8, 2022, AT&T divested DC's parent company WarnerMedia to its shareholders, and in turn merged with Discovery Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery. In turn, the new higher-ups cancelled a large number of WarnerMedia projects. Batgirl was one of many projects cancelled, despite being close to completion. The reason was sated to be that direct-to-streaming projects did not align with the new company's goals and interests, but was in reality to use the film's production costs as tax write-offs.
Biography[]
According to information from filmmakers as well as interviews with Firefly's actor Brendan Fraser, this version of Firefly would not have been the most common identity, Garfield Lynns, but instead Ted Carson, another character that tookup the criminal identity in the comics. This version, however, would be a more sympathetic version of the character: Ted Carson was inteded to be a military war veteran whose benefits would have been cut, leading him to become a vengeful criminal intent on burning Gotham City down, leading to Batgirl and Batman being forced to stop him. Some sources also report that he would have been responsible for killing Batgirl's mother, though this detail's inclusion is unclear.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Due to Brendan Fraser's Oscar win for his performance as Charlie in The Whale, some fans have hoped that his successful acting comeback could lead Warner Bros. to "save" Batgirl, even James Gunn's hiring as co-manager of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. However, due to plans to reboot the DC Extended Universe into the DC Universe following a multiversal soft reboot in The Flash, it's highly unlikely that Batgirl will ever be released.
- Firefly in the DC Extended Universe would have been the third live-action incarnation of the character, following versions portrayed by Andrew Dunbar and both Michelle Veintimilla and Camila Perez.
- Brendan Fraser previously Auditioned the role of Superman in Superman: Flyby.