While Batman is one of the most popular and skilled comic book characters of all time, it’s important to remember that the character doesn’t wage his war against crime alone. While the Bat-Family are the most prominent support for Batman in his war, he also has the support of the Police Commissioner, James Gordon.
Commissioner Gordon is such a vital part of the Batman mythos that he has featured in every theatrical version of the Caped Crusader. While some of these appearances may have been little more than a cameo appearance, others are integral to the development of Batman as a character. (Jeffrey Wright will not be included in this list, as The Batman has yet to be released).
6 Hector Elizondo – Lego Batman
The Lego Batman movie was hugely successful among the Batman fan base, with many praising the film as being one of the best Batman movies of all time. Fans in particular enjoyed the relationship between Will Arnett’s Batman and Zach Galifianakis’ version of the Clown Prince of Crime.
That being said, the reason why Hector Elizondo’s Commissioner Gordon ranks so low on this list isn’t that his performance was bad. Rather, it was that the character didn’t have too much to do in the movie. Furthermore, the character design of this Commissioner Gordon isn’t particularly memorable, setting it apart from other more stylized versions on this list.
5 J.K. Simmons – Justice League
This is slightly unfair to J.K. Simmons as his DCEU appearance in Joss Whedon’s Justice League was little more than a glorified cameo. That being said, it is worth saying that Simmons certainly looks the part as the iconic police Commissioner, complete with Gordon’s legendary mustache.
While Simmons didn’t have too much to do in the Whedon cut of the movie, perhaps he will have more scenes in the Snydercut. As it stands though, J.K. Simmons wasn’t given the opportunity to truly flex his acting chops in this role.
4 Neil Hamilton – Batman 1966
The 1966 Batman movie isn’t given the respect it deserves by modern fans of Batman. While the Batman character has recently moved into the dark nature of the Caped Crusader, the 1966 movie (and TV series) captures that hilarious, camp Batman character that appeared in the Silver Age of comics books throughout the late 50s to early 70s.
Played by Neil Hamilton, the Commissioner Gordon in the 1966 movie and series would often be remembered for using a red telephone to contact Batman, rather than using the iconic Bat-signal to ask for the Dark Knight’s help. This would lead to some hilarious scenes as Alfred would pick up the phone and ‘pass it on’ to Batman.
3 Pat Hingle – Batman 1989 - Batman And Robin
Tim Burton’s Batman helped kickstart the modern obsession with the comic book genre. The first film showed mainstream audiences that Batman can be a scary, realistic hero. It was this dark nature of the Burton movies that would eventually lead to Warner Bros replacing him with Joel Schumacher in order to make more ‘family friendly’ movies.
While Pat Hingle may not have been given too much screen time across the four movies in which be portrayed the Police Commissioner, he was certainly memorable. Strangely enough, one of his most memorable scenes came in Batman and Robin, with Gordon being subject to Poison Ivy’s pheromone dust.
2 Gary Oldman – The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Dark Knight Trilogy is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful comic book movie trilogies of all time. Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman, the trilogy is often cited as the pinnacle of comic book movies. The Nolan trilogy brought new life to the Batman mythos, grounding the character of Batman in a gritty, realistic world in order to separate it from the disaster that was Batman and Robin.
One of the central characters throughout the entire trilogy was Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon. Viewers got to watch the character rise in the police system, starting out life as a sergeant and eventually moving up to Commissioner. Oldman was incredible in his role and his interactions with Batman, particularly in the final movie, were some of the most moving in the trilogy.
1 Bob Hastings – Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is, for many, the definitive adaptation of the Batman mythos, with the 90s series managing to combine darkness with a lightness than can be enjoyed by children as well as adults. The series helped to introduce the world to a new, tragic origin story to Mr. Freeze, as well as introducing new characters to the DC Universe in general, including Renee Montoya and Harley Quinn.
While the voice acting of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker, and Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn will always be viewed as the most iconic voices in the show, Bob Hastings’ take on Commissioner Gordon ought to be held in high regard. Hasting’s version of the character simply is Jim Gordon, taken straight from the page and plastered onto this legendary TV series.