15 Actresses Perfect for the Role of Batgirl in the DCU

Barbara Gordon—Gotham City’s brilliant crimefighter, librarian-turned-Oracle, and cornerstone of the Bat-Family—first appeared in ‘Detective Comics’ #359 in a story titled ‘The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!’, created for comics and television by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino alongside producers William Dozier and Julius Schwartz. The character is defined by investigative savvy, tech expertise, and martial-arts prowess, later evolving into Oracle after a life-altering attack, and leading teams such as the Birds of Prey.

With DC Studios shaping the new DCU under James Gunn and Peter Safran, ‘The Brave and the Bold’ is set to introduce a new Batman alongside Damian Wayne, signaling the on-screen expansion of the Bat-Family and making Batgirl’s eventual arrival feel inevitable. That context—and Batgirl’s dual emphasis on brains and brawn—informs this curated roster of 15 performers with substantive genre credits, action training, or detective-driven roles that align with Barbara Gordon’s canon.

Jenna Ortega

Jenna Ortega earned widespread recognition for portraying Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ and appeared in horror titles including ‘Scream’, ‘Scream VI’, and ‘X’. She drew critical notice leading Megan Park’s ‘The Fallout’, and more recently appeared in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.

Earlier work includes roles in ‘You’ and ‘Yes Day’, plus hosting duties on ‘Saturday Night Live’. Awards attention has included Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG nominations tied to ‘Wednesday’, reflecting her presence across TV and film during the same period.

Leslie Grace

Leslie Grace headlined the unreleased ‘Batgirl’—directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from Christina Hodson’s screenplay—opposite Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, Jacob Scipio, and Ivory Aquino, with score by Natalie Holt and cinematography by John Mathieson. Production filmed in Glasgow for the then-DCEU before Warner Bros. Discovery canceled its release.

Grace previously starred as Nina Rosario in Jon M. Chu’s ‘In the Heights’ and later shared behind-the-scenes looks at her Barbara Gordon suit and stunt rehearsals after the film’s shelving, underscoring the near-complete state of the project at the time of cancellation.

Hailee Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld’s filmography spans the Coen brothers’ ‘True Grit’, the Travis Knight-directed ‘Bumblebee’, and Marvel’s ‘Hawkeye’, where she portrays Kate Bishop in a Disney+ series created by Jonathan Igla. She also voices Gwen Stacy in Sony’s animated ‘Spider-Verse’ films.

The ‘Hawkeye’ character arc involves baton-passing dynamics with Clint Barton, while ‘Bumblebee’ pairs Steinfeld’s lead performance with Knight’s character-focused approach inside the ‘Transformers’ universe. In animation, her Gwen Stacy performance features prominently across the franchise’s multiversal storytelling.

Naomi Scott

Naomi Scott’s breakout came as Princess Jasmine in Guy Ritchie’s ‘Aladdin’, followed by roles in ‘Power Rangers’ and Elizabeth Banks’s ‘Charlie’s Angels’. Her recent credits include genre fare such as the horror sequel ‘Smile 2’.

Scott’s work spans musical performance and action, with ‘Aladdin’ pairing her with Mena Massoud and Will Smith, while ‘Charlie’s Angels’ teams her with Kristen Stewart and Ella Balinska in a globe-trotting espionage setup.

Cailee Spaeny

Cailee Spaeny received the Volpi Cup for ‘Priscilla’ under director Sofia Coppola and starred in Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ and Fede Álvarez’s ‘Alien: Romulus’. Earlier credits include supporting turns in ‘On the Basis of Sex’.

Her lead performance in ‘Priscilla’ centers on Priscilla Presley’s perspective opposite Jacob Elordi’s Elvis, while the subsequent genre projects position her in war-drama and sci-fi horror frameworks with filmmakers known for precise, high-intensity storytelling.

Kiernan Shipka

Kiernan Shipka played Sally Draper on AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ and later headlined Netflix’s ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’, developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. She also leads the time-travel slasher ‘Totally Killer’, directed by Nahnatchka Khan for Amazon MGM Studios and Blumhouse Television.

Shipka’s feature and limited-series work includes projects such as ‘White House Plumbers’ and genre pieces that emphasize suspense and coming-of-age threads, blending supernatural elements and teen-horror setups across streaming platforms.

Sophie Thatcher

Sophie Thatcher broke out on Showtime’s ‘Yellowjackets’, then joined ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ as Drash and starred in the Stephen King adaptation ‘The Boogeyman’; additional credits include ‘Prospect’ and A24’s ‘Heretic’.

Her television and film roles commonly involve survival, ensemble mystery, and horror motifs, with ‘Yellowjackets’ balancing present-day drama against stranded-team flashbacks, and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ introducing her biker-mod character on Tatooine.

Thomasin McKenzie

Thomasin McKenzie’s major credits include Taika Waititi’s ‘Jojo Rabbit’, Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller ‘Last Night in Soho’, and Debra Granik’s ‘Leave No Trace’. Each pairs her with distinct directorial voices across satire, horror, and intimate drama.

‘Last Night in Soho’ follows an aspiring fashion designer who experiences visions of the 1960s through an enigmatic singer, while ‘Leave No Trace’ centers on a father-daughter duo living off the grid; ‘Jojo Rabbit’ adapts ‘Caging Skies’ into a darkly comedic anti-hate parable.

Daisy Ridley

Daisy Ridley rose to prominence as Rey in the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy and has starred in titles including ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, ‘Ophelia’, ‘Chaos Walking’, and the biographical drama ‘Young Woman and the Sea’.

Her screen work spans studio tentpoles and independent films, voice roles such as ‘Twelve Minutes’, and upcoming projects announced post-‘Star Wars’, illustrating a range from action-adventure to intimate character studies.

Mary Mouser

Mary Mouser portrays Samantha LaRusso in Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’, the continuation of ‘The Karate Kid’ mythology created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. The series features ensemble martial-arts choreography and legacy cast members Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.

Set years after the original films, ‘Cobra Kai’ explores rival dojos, family dynamics, and tournament arcs, with Mouser’s character positioned at the intersection of Miyagi-Do tradition and contemporary competition within the Valley.

Grace Caroline Currey

Grace Caroline Currey (née Fulton) plays Mary Bromfield in DC’s ‘Shazam!’ films directed by David F. Sandberg and co-stars in the survival thriller ‘Fall’; earlier work includes ‘Annabelle: Creation’ in the Conjuring universe.

Her DC appearances connect directly to the Shazam Family’s story inside the broader superhero canon, while ‘Fall’ centers on two climbers trapped atop a remote tower, emphasizing physical performance and suspense.

Samara Weaving

Samara Weaving headlined Radio Silence’s ‘Ready or Not’ and appears as Scarlett in ‘Snake Eyes’, with additional credits across genre titles such as ‘Guns Akimbo’, ‘The Babysitter’ films, and ‘Scream VI’. A ‘Ready or Not’ sequel from Radio Silence has been in development and publicly discussed.

Her filmography mixes action, horror, and dark comedy, including collaborations with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett; ensemble work ranges from ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ to period drama in ‘Chevalier’.

Karen Fukuhara

Karen Fukuhara made her feature debut as Katana in ‘Suicide Squad’ and stars as Kimiko in Amazon’s ‘The Boys’; voice roles include ‘Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts’ and ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’.

Her screen and voice performances span superhero ensembles and animated leads, with ‘The Boys’ adapting the Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson comic under showrunner Eric Kripke, and ‘Kipo’ and ‘She-Ra’ anchoring prominent streaming animation.

Sophia Lillis

Sophia Lillis is known for ‘It’ and ‘It: Chapter Two’, HBO’s ‘Sharp Objects’, Netflix’s ‘I Am Not Okay With This’, and ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’, where she plays the druid Doric opposite an ensemble led by Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez.

Her recent work includes independent cinema such as ‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’ and ‘The Adults’, plus genre-adventure pieces that combine VFX-driven sequences with character-centric arcs.

Emma Mackey

Emma Mackey earned a BAFTA Rising Star Award following her breakout in Netflix’s ‘Sex Education’. Her film credits include Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Death on the Nile’, Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’, and Frances O’Connor’s ‘Emily’, in which she portrays Emily Brontë.

Beyond the ensemble comedy-drama of ‘Sex Education’, Mackey’s feature work spans mystery, period drama, and pop-culture meta-comedy, pairing her with casts that include Gal Gadot, Margot Robbie, and more.

Share your thoughts below: which actress do you think should don Batgirl’s cowl in the DCU?