J.K Simmons, who made his debut as Commissioner Jim Gordon in Justice League last month, has admitted that for the meantime he doesn’t have an update on the potential Batman solo film in the DCEU, but expects discussions to begin in the New Year.
“No, I haven’t had any direct conversations about that yet,” responded the Oscar winner when I asked Simmons whether he had spoken to “Batman” director Matt Reeves.
“Now that ‘Justice League’ is out and we are going to kick into the holidays, I know that the ‘Batman’ film has been pushed back a couple of times because of this, that, and the other, I am just looking forward to figuring out what is going to happen.”
“Presumably at some point in the winter we’ll have conversations about that and see what the next step in the DC universe might be.”
Simmons, who previously wowed comic book fans with his appearances as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, only made a brief appearance as Gordon in “Justice League” during a scene that also starred Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, Ezra Miller’s Flash, and Ben Affleck’s Batman.
While I was rather impressed by “Justice League,” many critics poured scorn on the blockbuster. During our discussion I asked Simmons what he thought of this reaction, only for the actor to admit that he has avoided reviews ever since he was a theater actor.
“Honestly, this is something I learned back in my theater days, not to pay too much attention to critics. Because it is not constructive for me. So honestly I don’t know what you are talking about. I am blessedly ignorant.”
While we wait to hear more about “Batman,” make sure to check out J.K. Simmons’ portrayal in “Father Figures,” which stars Owen Wilson and Ed Helms, and is released on December 22.
