While it might not be his most iconic comic book role, there’s no denying that seeing J.K. Simmons portrayal of Commissioner Gordon in Justice League left DC fans wanting even more. Luckily for us, it seems we might be getting just that. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Simmons and Warner Brothers are currently negotiating the actor’s return to the iconic role, and the DC universe, in the upcoming Batgirl film.
This news follows last week’s announcement that In The Heights actress Leslie Grace had been cast as the film’s titular hero, Batgirl, who you might also know as Barbara Gordon or — wait for it — Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, the father-daughter combo is incredibly important to the Batman universe at large, and their arcs frequently involve one another’s involvement, making Simmons’ reprisal of Commissioner Gordon all the more important. The great news? It seems pretty important to Simmons, too.
According to Simmons in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, he previously agreed to play the role of Gordon in three DCCU movies, and is still hopeful “there’s more of that in the future.” As of right now, the actor is sitting at just one with 2017’s Justice League, meaning we’ll hopefully be getting a couple more films featuring the lovable, gruff grump.
As of right now, there is no set release date for Batgirl, though the rapidly growing cast can only mean filming is just around the corner. In addition to Simmons and Grace, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are attached to the film as well as Birds of Prey and the upcoming The Flash script writer Christina Hodson. If all goes well, we’ll hopefully see Batgirl in theaters and on HBO Max sometime next year.