Ivory Aquino is taking a trip to the DC universe. Aquino has joined the cast of “Batgirl” and will appear as Alysia Yeoh, the best friend of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, the masked hero played by Leslie Grace. Aquino is known for her work in the 2017 LGBTQ rights miniseries “When We Rise,” which aired on ABC and saw her portray trans rights activist Cecilia Chung. Word of her “Batgirl” casting has been speculated about online after star Grace shared a photograph of the two of them together in an Instagram story earlier this month. The addition of Aquino, who is transgender, is a milestone casting for Warner Bros.’ DC Films division, with Aquino set to play the first openly trans character in a live-action DC movie. On the small screen, Nicole Maines played the trans hero Dreamer on The CW’s “Supergirl” starting in 2018. The series aired its finale in November. In 2019, actor Zach Barack, who is trans, appeared in Marvel Studios’ “Spider-Man: Far From Home” as a classmate of Peter Parker’s. “Batgirl” is slated to debut on HBO Max and also includes Brendan Fraser in a villain role and Michael Keaton back as Batman, the hero he first played more than 30 years ago in Tim Burton’s “Batman.” Other stars include J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Jim Gordon, the father of Barbara Gordon. “Bad Boys for Life” filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are directing from a script by DC mainstay Christina Hodson, who penned “The Flash” and “Birds of Prey.” No release date is set for “Batgirl,” which is currently in production in the U.K. (SD-Agencies) | 