Batgirl’s J.K. Simmons Reveals When He’s Filming As James Gordon

J.K. Simmons as Gordon in Justice League
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The DC Extended Universe is expanding in a number of exciting ways over the next few years, including the silver and small screens. Case point: The upcoming Batgirl movie, which is being produced for HBO Max. DC Fans can’t wait to see J.K. Simmons back as James Gordon, and he recently revealed when he’s going to be filming the upcoming movie.

Prolific actor J.K. Simmons debuted as James Gordon in Justice League-- appearing in both cuts of Zack Snyder’s blockbuster. But it was a relatively small role, which is why his return in Batgirl is such an exciting prospect. He recently spoke to his upcoming role in the blockbuster opposite Leslie Grace, saying:

A couple of months from now, well, they start very soon and then I jump on board sometime in January over in Glasgow, which is a wonderful place to be shooting it because it’s - you know- gothic… I’m excited to be the once and future Jim Gordon.

Same, though. Just like fans, J.K. Simmons is psyched about being able to dive back into his DCEU role. And with Batgirl obviously focusing on his daughter Barbara, he’s sure to have a meaty role in the mysterious comic book adaptation. Luckily, filming is going to begin for the Spider-Man actor in January.

J.K. Simmons’ comments come from his recent appearance on the Harry Sad Confused podcast. Obviously his ongoing role in the DCEU came up during the interview, especially since he’s finally wearing James Gordon’s signature glasses again. We’ll just have to wait and see how the rest of the cast of Batgirl comes together.

With Batgirl still in the development stage, the information about the DC superhero flick is relatively limited. The project will be helmed by Bad Boys For Life filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and written by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee, Birds of Prey). J.K. Simmons is joined by In The Heights’ Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, while Brendan Fraser was recently confirmed as the villainous Firefly. 

Gotham City continues to be an important setting in the DC Extended Universe, and it should be interesting to see how Batgirl ends up connecting to the rest of the massive franchise. It would be awesome to see Barbara and James Gordon interact with other characters from the same city. For her part, Harley Quinn actress Margot Robbie seems interested in possibly being paired with the Batman protegee sometime in the future. Let’s just hope that actually plays out sometime in the future.

With production for Batgirl starting so shortly, there are sure to be more thrilling updates coming for the highly anticipated superhero flick. Warner Bros. is clearly putting a ton of DCEU content on HBO Max, including the Peacemaker series and the developing Blue Beetle movie.

Batgirl is currently expected to arrive sometime in 2022, but it does not have a concrete release date. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.