With The Batman topping the box office again this week and nearing a global box office of $500 million, it would seem like nearly everyone has seen the Robert Pattinson-starring DC film, but it turns out that isn’t quite the case. J.K. Simmons, who played Commissioner Gordon in Justice League and will also play the role in HBO Max’s Batgirl, revealed to Variety on the red carpet at the Critics Choice Awards that he hasn’t seen The Batman just yet. He did say, however, that he will be correcting that soon.
“No, not yet,” Simmons said when asked if he had seen The Batman yet. “I will very soon.”
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In The Batman, Jim Gordon — who, at this point in the story is not yet Gotham Police Commissioner but is instead simply a lieutenant — is played by Jeffrey Wright. Wright previously shared a throwback photo of himself with yet another Gordon actor, Gary Oldman, who played the character in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy.
“This is Year Two,” Wright said previously of his version of Gordon. “So, it’s a bit of a post-origin story for Batman. But that said, we are at the ground floor of the building of the relationship between Batman and Gordon… it’s still new and maturing. And so that’s where we are at the beginning of our film, and we take it from there and we see where it goes.”
As for Simmons’ Gordon, we’ll next see him in Batgirl which stars Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and will also feature Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Earlier this year, Simmons teased the family dynamic between his Gordon and Barbara in that film, including the use of nicknames.
“Commissioner Gordon, formerly Detective Gordon, is the father of Barbara Gordon; well, also the husband of Barbara Gordon, gets a little confusing,” Simmons said. We call the younger one ‘Babs’ or ‘Bugs’ and she becomes Batgirl. I hope that wasn’t a spoiler, my seat didn’t get electrified, so I guess I’m allowed to say that.”
Batgirl is directed by Bad Boys for Life‘s Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, with a script written by Christina Hodson, whose work includes Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and the upcoming The Flash movie. In addition to Simmons, the film is expected to see Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Brendan Fraser joining the cast as Firefly, Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, and Jacob Scipio, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, and Ethan Kai cast in currently unknown roles.
Batgirl is expected to be released later this year on HBO Max.
