‘Batgirl’ brings back JK Simmons: Is this one of HBO Max’s best movies?

Legendary actor and Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons is set to reprise his role as Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming HBO Max movie Batgirl, as reported by Deadline earlier today. Simmons, whose only appearance in a DCEU film comes from his 2017 stint in Justice League, was a fan favorite regardless of being in a mediocre film, leaving fans excited that he’ll again return as Batman’s right hand man. 

Batgirl, which is still in the pre-production stage, is aiming for a 2022 HBO Max release, says the streaming service. The DCEU will once again try and reel fans back slowly into their world, a cinematic universe that struggled out of the gate but has since received much praise given audiences’ responses to projects like Wonder Woman, Shazam, the upcoming Suicide Squad, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max. 

Now, with most of these HBO Max movies available to watch on the streaming service, fans of the DCEU can binge all of their favorite heroic stories in preparation for the upcoming Batgirl. Speaking of HBO Max movies, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention perhaps the best one there is, which is of course Zack Synder’s completed version of Justice League, which also features the extraordinary J.K. Simmons. 

Snyder Cut

Fans of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) are finally able to watch Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, a 2017 superhero film that went through a production hell so historic that it’ll surely be made into a documentary one day. While the original 2017 film, helmed mostly by Joss Whedon, failed to capture the appreciation of audiences, fans saw just enough notes of brilliance within the film to ask for a “Snyder Cut”.

Campaigned by many fans, including the cast of Justice League itself, Warner Bros. finally saw to it that Zack Snyder got his fair shot at making his original vision for the film, in which he famously had to depart early in production due to the tragic passing of his daughter. Now, just over a year since its announcement, Zack Synder’s Justice League finally debuted in March of 2021, and fans are loving it! 

The film is currently available on the HBO Max streaming app, retelling the story of how Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman manage to save Superman from the dead, bringing earth’s greatest hero back into the fold as this team of superheroes unite to face not only the villainous Steppenwolf, but an impending threat that is Darkseid, essentially DC’s Thanos. Does this get you excited for Batgirl? It should.  

Batgirl lands J.K. Simmons 

While the upcoming Batgirl might not be the Alicia Silverstone dream spinoff from her 1997 character appearance in Batman and Robin, kidding, fans will finally get the chance to see a live-action version of such a beloved character, as Batgirl is set to star Leslie Grace, who was announced to play the titular hero last week given her breakout performance in HBO Max’s In The Heights. Of course, we’re glad J.K. will be there too!

Simmons was cast as Gordon by Zack Snyder for 2017’s Justice League and appeared in added material for the filmmaker’s recently restored cut, Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In 2019, the actor said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he had signed on to play the role for three movies and hoped to return to the character at one point. “I hope there’s more of that in the future,” Simmons said. 

Batgirl will center on Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon. The character was first seen in the 1967 Batman series with the late Yvonne Craig playing Barbara. Batgirl’s first comic book appearance was in Detective Comics #357 by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino. Perhaps this may lead to more DC HBO Max movies in the future? We sure hope so.