After missing out on The Batman following Ben Affleck’s departure, J.K. Simmons would certainly have been forgiven for assuming his time as Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon had been restricted to a single outing back in 2017’s Justice League.
However, Simmons has found himself donning the ‘tache once more as he reprised the role of Jim Gordon for HBO Max’s Batgirl movie, and during an interview with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences A.frame, the Oscar-winner has admitted that it “really came as a complete surprise that they wanted me to be that guy again.”
“The tiny role that Commissioner Gordon played in Justice League was very businesslike and very, ‘Let’s see if we can stave off the end of the world!'” said Simmons. “What appealed to me about this movie was from Jim Gordon’s point of voice, it’s really more a story about him as a guy and as a father and not just about the guy who’s turning on the Bat Signal and trying to keep the citizens of Gotham safe – although that’s obviously also a part of the story.”
Simmons also offered some praise for his co-star and on-screen daughter Leslie Grace, who stars in the title role as Barbara Gordon: “She brings so much to it. “I completely agree about In the Heights. She was really charming and compelling and charismatic in that—and she brings all of that to Batgirl in addition to pretty kickass stunt skills.”
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Batgirl is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) and stars Leslie Grace (In the Heights) as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, J.K. Simmons (Justice League) as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Micheal Keaton (The Flash) as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Brendan Fraser (Doom Patrol) as Firefly, Ivory Aquino (When They See Us) as Alysia Yeoh and Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys for Life), Rebecca Front (Avenue 5), Corey Johnson (Morbius) and Ethan Kai (Killing Eve) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
Batgirl is set to premiere directly on HBO Max as an HBO Max Original.
Originally published March 28, 2022. Updated March 29, 2022.
