Collider is reporting that up-and-coming actor Jayme Lawson has been cast in an undisclosed "notable" role in Matt Reeves's The Batman. In the film world, Lawson is still pretty unknown, as this will be her first major role. But in the greater world of acting, Lawson is presumably quite accomplished, having graduated from Julliard and starred in several stage productions.
Now here's where things get interesting. Collider's initial report did not mention which character Lawson will be playing, but our analysts here at BMD have come up with a few prime suspects. The more likely one would be Barbara Gordon, aka the first Batgirl. This would be somewhat of a coup since Babs is traditionally protrayed as a red-haired white woman (and as you can see from the header, Lawson is not), but honestly, screw tradition. Besides, The LEGO Batman Movie already set a precedent for a WoC Babs with Rosario Dawson's version, and Reeves has already cast Jeffrey Wright (read: a black man) as Barbara's father, Commissioner Gordon.
My only objection to the Lawson as Batgirl theory is that WB supposedly still wants to make a Batgirl feature, and if they do, then casting someone as unknown as Lawson in the main role would be quite the risk (speaking exclusively from a suit's point of view.) They may have to recast, or set it in a different universe or something, which would neutralize the potential for a Batfamily shared universe and who wants that?
My next guess would be that Lawson is playing Holly Robinson, Selina Kyle's friend and ally. Not much to explain about this; Holly is a cool supporting character who adds dimension to Catwoman's femme fatale exterior. And as popular as Catwoman is, I do find it weird how one of her most important companions in the comics has never gotten justice in film or TV. Here's to hoping that Zoë Kravitz's Selina gets the Holly that she deserves.
That's about it for now, but I'm sure we'll learn who Lawson is playing soon enough. Before June 25, 2021, at least.