The Batman: Part II won’t start filming until the 2025 movie schedule has hit the spring, but we’re so hyped for Robert Pattison’s return as Matt Reeves’ Dark Knight that we’ve already run through the villains we want to see in the next Batman movie, beyond the potential return of Paul Dano’s Riddler. (While taking into account Pattinson’s own villainous prediction for the sequel, of course.) Now, co-star Jeffrey Wright weighed in with his own choice, and it’s a disturbingly intriguing pick.
Wright became the latest actor to take over the rather iconic comic-sourced role of GCPD mainstay James Gordon, and the Westworld vet’s suggestion for the villain he’d like to see show up in The Batman: Part II or a later project hits very close to home. Speaking with The Movie Dweeb about his new show opposite Michael Fassbender, The Agency, Wright almost surprisingly didn't immediately dodge the villain question, and instead answered with:
There’s a lot to choose from. You know, Gordon actually has a son who becomes somewhat nefarious. That could be a possibility.
Wowzers, y'all! Jeffrey Wright's character hasn't even reached the Commissioner level just yet, and the actor is already calling for Gordon's son James Jr. to enter this universe. I don't necessarily think it'll happen anytime soon, especially without more backstory being devoted to Gordon's family life. But the fact that he's interested enough to bring the the offspring up is something to ponder.
Comic book fans may already be aware of James Gordon Jr.'s villainous turns on the page. He was first introduced through Frank Miller and Dave Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One arc, was later kidnapped by Gordon's irate former partner, though he was recovered safely. As time went on, however, the kid's disturbing behavior revealed itself through animal sacrifices, and he was at one point suspected after one of his sister's friends went missing.
Later in life, James Jr. became a psychotic killer suffering from dissociative identities. He often puts his sister in harm's way, and in one part of the mythos joins up with Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad.
It's altogether unclear how Matt Reeves' Batman franchise would add all these important extra members onto James Gordon's on-screen family. But considering Jeffrey Wright is the first Black actor to take on the role in live-action, I'm expecially interested to see who the producers would cast as Barbara and James Jr.
When asked about his own casting preference, Wright makes it sound like he actually does have an idea in mind, lending a small amount of credibility to this bonkers answer. As he put it when asked who he'd want to play James Jr.:
Ohhh, I have some ideas. Or maybe one idea.
With just that answer, I went from thinking "There's no way James Gordon Jr. is going to be a villain in any upcoming Batman movies" to thinking "How long am I going to have to suffer through waiting to find out who Jeffrey Wright wants to play his on-screen son?" I'm still skeptical about it all happening, mind you, but I've perhaps grown too accustomed to Hollywood stars balking when asked about hopes for sequels that to hear the opposite is too shocking to properly react to.
Here's hoping we get some kind of official hint of what's to come in The Batman: Part II long before the October 2, 2026 release date arrives.
