The Batman: Jeffrey Wright in Talks to Play Commissioner Jim Gordon

Westworld star Jeffrey Wright is in negotiations to play Commissioner Jim Gordon in the Matt Reeves-directed The Batman, The Hollywood Reporter learned Monday.

Reeves was first said to be eyeing a person of color for the role when a rumor claimed Reeves wanted two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali for Gordon, one of Batman’s most famous and most trusted allies. Ali, who will headline Blade for Marvel Studios, was reportedly Reeves’ “first choice” for Gordon.

That role in recent years was portrayed by Gary Oldman across Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and most recently by J.K. Simmons in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, set in Warner Bros.’ shared DC Extended Universe, where Simmons appeared opposite then-Batman star Ben Affleck.

Wright would be the second announced actor to board The Batman, joining Robert Pattinson, who stars as a relatively new costumed crime-fighter.

“The Batman will explore a detective case — when people start dying in strange ways, Batman must go deep into the dark world of Gotham to find clues and solve the mystery/conspiracy connected to Gotham City’s history and criminals,” reads reported plot details that surfaced earlier this month. “In the film, all of Batman’s Rogues Gallery are already out there and active, similar to the comics and animated shows/movies. The film will have multiple villains, as they are all suspects.”

Reeves characterizes the film as a “very point of view noir-driven definitive Batman story in which he is investigating a particular case and that takes us out into the world of Gotham.”

“I went on a deep dive again revisiting all my favorite comics. Those all inform by osmosis,” Reeves explained last summer when noting his film isn’t inspired by classic origin tale Year One or any particular comic book. “There’s no continuation of the Nolan films. It’s very much trying to find a way to do this as something that for me is going to be definitively Batman and new and cool.”

Reeves then said The Batman is “focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for [Bruce] and very personal to him.”

“Obviously we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that,” Reeves stressed. “We’re doing a story that is definitively Batman though, and trying to tell a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman.”

Warner Bros. has dated The Batman for June 25, 2021.