J.K. Simmons Reveals When He’s Filming Batgirl

Of the many reasons to be excited about the upcoming Batgirl, the film will see the return of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Jim Gordon, with the actor recently confirming that he will start working on the film in January. News emerged last month that the actor would be reprising the role that he debuted in Justice League, and while production on Batgirl will be starting before Simmons gets involved, he teased that he would have a somewhat more substantial role than what we saw of him in the previous DC Extended Universe adventure, given that his Gordon is the father of Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon.

“I was completely flabbergasted that they came back to me recently and wanted to have me be Commissioner Gordon again, and have it be a more significant role,” Simmons revealed to the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “Leslie Grace is Batgirl and I think I’m actually going to get on the horn with her and the director in the next couple of days and do a little preliminary rehearsals on it. A couple of months from now — well, they start very soon and then I jump on board sometime in January over in Glasgow, which is a wonderful place to be shooting it because it’s gothic. I’m excited to be the once and future Jim Gordon.”

Much like any super-powered character in the DCEU, fans were just as excited to learn that Simmons would be taking over the iconic role of Jim Gordon for Justice League, only for him to barely earn any screen time. Even with the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, fans were still hopeful for more of Simmons’ Gordon, with Batgirl finally affording the actor and fans the opportunity to experience his take on the beloved figure.

“I had a long discussion with the guys about how we want to portray him,” the actor pointed out. “And the script, I thought … I just don’t want to give away anything at all, so I’m not gonna talk about the structure of it or any of that, but I thought it was a really interesting take on introducing Batgirl and giving Jim Gordon, fleshing him out certainly more than I had a chance to do in my first foray into that.”

Batgirl is expected to be landing on HBO Max in 2022.

Are you looking forward to seeing more of Simmons as Gordon? Let us know in the comments below!