The Batman Star Wants a Villain No One Saw Coming in the Sequel

As Matt Reeves keeps working on the script for The Batman: Part II, fans wonder if the sequel will tackle a classic villain such as Scarecrow or bring the modern Court of Owls to Gotham City. However, if it were up to James Gordon actor, Jeffrey Wright, Part II would bring an obscure villain to the silver screen, one who has never been adapted in live-action. In an interview with The Movie Dweeb about The Agency, Wright talked about his return to The Batman universe, revealing the Batman rogue he would most like to fight is James Gordon Jr., the psychopathic son of Gotham’s beloved commissioner.

When asked which member of Batman’s rogue gallery he would like to tackle as James Gordon in Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga, Wright initially hesitated since “there’s a lot to choose from.” Surprisingly, the first thing that popped into Wright’s mind while digesting the question was, “You know, Gordon actually has a son who becomes somewhat nefarious. That could be a possibility.”

Wright had likely considered this possibility before, as he also said he had “some ideas, or maybe one idea” for who should play Gordon’s son in Reeves’ universe. Sadly, Wright promised to share his fan cast only after the camera was off, meaning we are left in the dark about who he thinks is the perfect name for James Gordon Jr.

Who Is DC Comics’ James Gordon Jr.?

Commonly known as J.J. Gordon, James Gordon Jr. first appeared as an infant in 1987’s Batman: Year One, where Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli explore how Gordon moved with his family to Gotham City, where he would become a target to mobsters thanks to his unwavering dedication to the law. In the story, Batman saves baby J.J. from being thrown from a bridge, a pivotal moment that helps forge the friendship between Gordon and the Dark Knight. After Year One, J.J. remained mostly forgotten by DC Comics until 2011, when writer Scott Snyder upgraded him from a background character to a fully-fleshed villain.

The 24-year gap between James Jr.’s infant appearance and his adult debut allowed Snyder to craft a rich backstory that explained his descent into darkness. During his run of Detective Comics and Batman, Snyder revealed that James Jr. had exhibited psychopathic tendencies from childhood, including animal mutilation and suspected involvement in a friend’s disappearance.

James Gordon Jr. stands out in Batman’s rogues gallery because he is obsessed with proving that empathy is a weakness. Unlike villains seeking power or wealth, his motivation stems from an alarming philosophical stance. He believes that his psychopathic nature makes him superior, and he’s determined to spread this condition to others. His most ambitious and terrifying scheme involved developing a drug that would turn Gotham’s next generation into psychopaths like himself. By reverse-engineering his anti-psychopathy medication, he created a serum that amplified antisocial behaviors and planned to introduce it into baby formula factories across Gotham.

J.J. Gordon would be a good choice for the Batman Epic Crime Saga because the character is a brilliant and methodical psychopath who operates in the shadows, an approach that has nothing to do with the theatricalities of other Batman villains. His cold and calculated nature means Batman can only take him down by honing his detective skills, which is, not coincidentally, the preferred mode of Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight. That’s the kind of criminal that would make sense in Reeves’ grounded version of Gotham City, so Wright might be on to something when he suggests J.J. Gordon for the sequels.

The Batman: Part II is expected to hit theaters on October 2nd, 2026.