In a recent interview, Academy Award-winning actor J.K. Simmons talked about his role as Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon in the upcoming HBO Max Batgirl movie. Simmons will also be reprising another famous comic book role next month in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
When J.K. Simmons was cast as Batman’s trusted ally, James Gordon, for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, many viewed him as the perfect choice for the role. Unfortunately, Simmons’ role as Gordon was smaller than fans had expected and Warner Bros.’ decision to eventually move away from Snyder’s plans left many wondering if Simmons’ Gordon would ever return. Fortunately, the fan-favorite actor was called on to reprise the role for the upcoming Batgirl film.
Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Simmons said, “I was completely flabbergasted they came back to me recently and wanted me to be Commissioner Gordon again and have it be a more significant role. I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m going to get on the horn to [Leslie Grace] and the directors in the next couple of days and do little preliminary rehearsals. They start very soon and I jump on board sometime in January in Glasgow, which is a wonderful place to shoot it as it’s Gothic.” Even though Simmons admits he can’t give away any significant plot details, he did share his excitement for the portrayal of this famous DC comics character, calling it “a really interesting take on introducing Batgirl and fleshing Jim Gordon out.”
Simmons first portrayed Commissioner Gordon in 2017’s Justice League and once again in the re-released Syder-Cut. His role is relatively small in both versions of the film, but when he was first cast fans were understandably excited. Simmons has become a bit of a comic book movie staple, having also portrayed grumpy newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies. Simmons’ portrayal of Jameson is widely considered to be the definitive live-action version of the character, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else stepping into the role. He’s even reprised the role as an updated version of the character in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.
At the age of 66, Simmons is a perfect fit to play a more mature and experienced version of Commissioner Gordon. The character has appeared across other live-action Batman films, most notably in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy where he was portrayed by actor Gary Oldman. However, the Nolan Batman films show a younger, less experienced Gordon, who doesn’t become commissioner until the second movie. Actor Jeffrey Wright is also set to star as the Gotham Police Commissioner in director Matt Reeves’s upcoming reboot The Batman.
Although the character of Commissioner Gordon is often associated with Batman, it does make sense that he would play a larger role in the Batgirl film. In the comics, Batgirl is the superhero alter-ego of Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon. Although little is known about the plot of the upcoming Batgirl film, it has been confirmed that actress Leslie Grace will be playing Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl. Hopefully, Simmons will get more time to shine in the upcoming DC film, but fans will have to wait and see.
Batgirl premieres on HBO Max sometime in 2022.
Source: Josh Horowitz | Twitter
