Thanks to the recent shake-up of the upcoming DC slate at Warner Bros, the HBO Max-boundBatgirlmovie is very much up in the air in terms of release date and its place in the DCEU timeline, such as it is. As well as Michael Keaton reprising his role in the film,J.K. Simmonswill also be getting back into the DCEU as Commissioner Gordon, who he last played inJustice League. While there are many questionable timeline issues with the DCEU, Simmons’ appearance in the movie along with Michael Keaton’s Batman really takes the uncertainty of whereBatgirlsits to another level.
While talking toDiscussing Film, Simmons explained a little more about his “surprise” return and how this is a very different view of Gordon to the one seen in both versions ofJustice League. He said:
“Well, that was quite a surprise. And I’m still not sure I understand all the various multiverse aspects of, you know, DC or Marvel. But yeah, I was completely surprised and very happy obviously. I had a lengthy phone call sort of having the story laid out for me before I even saw a script, and it was actually way back in the middle of the summer I think that they first came to me and approached me about doing it. I just finished my part, they have several more weeks of shooting to do."
While Simmons seems to have completed his work onBatgirlwell ahead of everyone else, that doesn’t mean that he has a small role in the movie. Having been seen in set images alongside Keaton’s Batman double, it is clear that Gordon will be having some interactions with Batman as well as his daughter in the film. He continued:
“It’s much more than I got to do in my brief stint as Commissioner Gordon in Zack Snyder’s film. And really, it was fun because it was a completely different side of Commissioner Gordon. All that we saw in the little snippets of Zack Snyder’sJustice League, in either the original or in Zack’s brilliant, expanded cut, it was just Commissioner Gordon being business-like and needing Batman’s help. In this film, I think I’m allowed to say since it does center on Batgirl, we see much more of Commissioner Gordon at home.”
Set Photos Suggest That Batgirl Will Feature a Younger James Gordon
While we saw an older, grey-haired Jim Gordon inJustice League, all of theimages leaked from theBatgirlset that feature J.K. Simmonshave shown him with brown hair as he shot scenes with Michael Keaton’s body double in the Batsuit. For this reason, there has been a suggestion that Gordon and Keaton’s Dark Knight will have flashback scenes together, which would mean that Keaton’s Batman may not feature in the central story ofBatgirlat all.
Whatever the truth is, we don’t yet know whenBatgirlwill arrive on HBO Max. The film is thought to be landing sometime around the end of the year, but with cinematic releases likeThe Flashhaving moved to next year, there has been no word on whetherBatgirlcould end up also being released in 2023. We will probably get a better idea once filming concludes on the movie sometime in the next few weeks.
