Justice League introduced J.K. Simmons as the new Commissioner Gordon of the DC movie universe, but are there plans for him to return the next time we see Batman on the big screen? If there are, J.K. Simmons doesn't know anything about them. The actor has not, as of yet, met with standalone Batman movie director Matt Reeves, so he has no idea even what the plan is at this point. However, he is working on the assumption that he'll be back until somebody tells him otherwise. According to Simmons...
Oh, yeah! Assuming that we're gonna go forward, the way we think it will, I'm really looking forward to that. Hopefully, it will be really fun and the character will expand a little bit, particularly in the standalone Batman movie. There will be more to do. I guess it's Matt Reeves now for that one, who I haven't met. So, it will be a whole new collaborator to get together and work with, hopefully.
While J.K. Simmons clearly doesn't know what's going on with Commissioner Gordon's future in the DCEU, that doesn't mean that he's not interested and excited to find out. He clearly wants to be more involved in future movies, Simmons had previously stated that he wasn't involved in Justice League's reshoots and he tells [Collider][2] that he was so far out of the loop on that movie that he wasn't even aware of them until somebody in the press told him. Based on his comments here, however, he wants to be more involved and do more with this character.
[2]: http://Oh, yeah! Assuming that we're gonna go forward, the way we think it will, I'm really looking forward to that. Hopefully, it will be really fun and the character will expand a little bit, particularly in the standalone Batman movie. There will be more to do. I guess it's Matt Reeves now for that one, who I haven't met. So, it will be a whole new collaborator to get together and work with, hopefully.
While the next Batman movie has been on DC's projected schedule for some time, it has, thus far, remained mostly just an idea rather than a particular plan, so exactly what we're going to get is completely up in the air. Still, while DC is apparently looking at producing some movies that are separate from the main Justice League continuity, every indication has been that the Batman movie will be part of it, and you can't have a Batman movie without at least an appearance by Commissioner Gordon, which would make one think Simmons will appear.
Of course, considering the fact that we're not even entirely sure that the current big screen Batman will appear in the next Batman movie, we can hardly be certain that supporting characters will be returning. Ben Affleck was originally planning to write and direct the project as well as star in it, but he has since stepped away from his behind the scenes responsibilities in favor of Matt Reeves. More recently, the idea that the film could even star an entirely new actor has become a real possibility. If that happens, it's just as possible the movie could recast everybody who has previously appeared in the franchise.
While J.K. Simmons never really got a chance to impress in Justice League, there's no question he's a great actor and it would seem a shame to pull him from the franchise, regardless of whatever else happens. Judi Dench got to hang around the James Bond movies for a while after Pierce Brosnan left. Maybe Simmons will receive the same reprieve, even if he ends up working with a new Batman.
