J.K. Simmons is in talks with Warner Bros. to return to the DC Extended Universe as Commissioner Jim Gordon for the Batgirl movie at HBO Max. Simmons first portrayed Batman's Gotham City Police connection in the theatrical cut of Justice League and in an expanded capacity in Zack Snyder's Justice League earlier this year. The character was previously portrayed by Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, which concluded just prior to the launch of the DCEU.
Development on a solo Batgirl film has been in the works since early 2017 when Joss Whedon entered negotiations to write, direct and produce a film, though stepped down in 2018. That same year would see Birds of Prey scribe Christina Hodson hired by WB and DC to pen the script for the film and development begin ramping up earlier this year as Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed on to helm. Finally having someone at the helm, casting began for Batgirl this month when In the Heights' Leslie Grace signed on to star as the titular heroine.
Following the casting of Grace in the film, The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Simmons has entered talks to return as Commissioner Jim Gordon for Batgirl. Plot details are still being kept under wraps for the film, but the new report says the studio is eyeing to release the film on HBO Max in 2022. No production start date has been announced at the time of writing.
When originally announced to be portraying the GCPD commissioner for Justice League, fans were elated to have Simmons join the DCEU. In a far different role than his iconic J. Jonah Jameson for the Spider-Man films, Gordon would allow the Oscar winner to delve into a more nuanced performance while also build a larger physique that teased him getting in on the action in the future. With WB moving away from the interconnected nature of the DCEU after the failure of the theatrical Justice League and Ben Affleck retiring from portraying Batman, Simmons' return to the fold was largely uncertain, which makes even negotiations for his reprisal of the role exciting for fans.
The faster nature of recent development on Batgirl has been a very encouraging stream of announcements for those who have awaited a quality big screen outing for the heroine. Having made her big screen debut in the critically-derided Batman & Robin with Alicia Silverstone in the role, Barbara Gordon has yet to get her due in the film world and the new project is certainly shaping up to be deserving of the wait. Only time will tell if the film can deliver on the promising sum of its parts when it arrives on HBO Max next year.
Source: THR
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