Gotham PD: Will The Batman Star Jeffrey Wright Reprise Jim Gordon Role in HBO Max Series?

Gotham City will need a good cop in Jeffrey Wright's Jim Gordon, who could anchor or appear in the newly announced DC television drama set in Gotham's police department as an extension of the Matt Reeves-directed feature film The Batman. From Reeves and Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter for Warner Bros. Television, the untitled series coming to the HBO Max streaming service will examine "the anatomy of corruption" within the crime-ridden city protected by the vigilante Batman (Robert Pattinson) and will provide "an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham."

One of those characters is Gordon, who in most DC Comics lore works to flush corruption out of the Gotham City PD while teaming with the caped crusader in his fight against the city's menagerie of costumed criminals. By the time of The Batman — set early in Bruce Wayne's career as a crime-fighter — Gordon might have not yet achieved the rank of commissioner: River City star Alex Ferns has been reported to be playing Commissioner Pete Savage, Gordon's predecessor.

In graphic novel Batman: Earth One, also about a rookie Batman, Gordon is a weary police detective who has resigned himself as a cop powerless to combat misconduct inside his own department. It's only after the emergence of Batman, and after Gordon is partnered with former Los Angeles cop Harvey Bullock, that the single dad is inspired to embrace his convictions and take a stand against the corruption ailing Gotham City.

Details behind The Batman, including Gordon's role, remain scarce. Because this untitled series about the GCPD is tethered to The Batman, Wright's Gordon is expected to appear in either a lead or recurring role. Wright already stars in HBO series Westworld, also from Warner Bros. Television.

Samuel L. Jackson, who appears as super-spy Nick Fury across multiple movies set in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe, popped up in two first season episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first television series set in the MCU.

That series, from ABC Studios and Marvel Television, is a one-way street: S.H.I.E.L.D. reacts to and acknowledges the events of the film side of the franchise, but the feature films have so far ignored the events of the seven-season series, including the revival of agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) after his death in 2012's The Avengers. This new DC drama is directly connected to the events and the world established in The Batman, making it more likely Gordon appears in a pivotal role.

Wright previously described The Batman as taking place in a "gritty" Gotham that is "grounded in Americana."

"We're working together to create a mood, to create an idea, a setting, a tone," Wright said in a May interview. "That's all being led of course by Matt Reeves. He's created this vision for this thing that, of course, is the next evolution, you know, since 1939 when these stories began. This is the next evolution of Gotham. I'm working off of the stage that Matt has provided and also working off of what Robert is doing. We're trying to create something together that is, you know, that's our own but is also Batman."

Reeves is helming a noir-driven detective tale he says is not based on Batman: Year One or any particular Batman comic book, saying instead The Batman is informed by decades of stories. In Year One, Gordon is a police lieutenant newly transferred into the hell hole that is Gotham City; there Gordon is partnered with a corrupt cop while Wayne, after many years away from home, makes his first outing as Batman.

HBO Max has given a series commitment to Reeves and Winters' untitled DC drama. The Batman is scheduled to open in theaters October 1, 2021.