The on-screen friendship between Barbara Gordon and Alysia Yeoh that could've been!
HBO Max made headlines this week for canceling the release of Batgirl, which would feature trans actress Ivory Aquino playing the titular character's very best friend, Alysia.
Since then, Aquino and her co-stars Leslie Grace (In the Heights) and Ethan Kai (Killing Eve) have been posting pictures and videos on social media about the great times they shared together while filming the movie.
On Twitter, Aquino shared a sweet and hilarious video of herself, Grace, and Kai singing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Grace reacted to Aquino's video, writing:
"The greatest of all tiiiiiime! I love you my Ally! That night was true joy!"
\u201cThe greatest of all tiiiiiime! I love you my Ally! That night was true joy!\u201d— Leslie Grace (@Leslie Grace) 1659577425
Aquino also reacted to a video shared by Grace on social media. In it, the In the Heights actress can be seen singing "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. Aquino wrote in her quote-retweet:
"Forever my Babs [heart emoji]."
\u201cForever my Babs\ud83d\udc97\u201d— Ivory Aquino (@Ivory Aquino) 1659581351
Though these social media posts are meant to celebrate the friendships forged between the cast of Batgirl, one can't help but feel sad about the project being canceled when co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Falla alluded to the fact that the film was close to wrapping. This would've been a huge moment for trans representation in a superhero movie given that a trans actress was going to play a trans character in it. What's more, Alysia is Batgirl's BFF in the comics - which means that she would've likely played a huge part in the overall story.
HBO Max's Batgirl has been officially shelved, so there's not much else anyone can do. Still, these social media posts show the incredible friendship between Aquino and Grace that fans are now going to miss out on, unfortunately.
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