Jeffrey Wright has recently strongly responded to the criticism over his casting in The Batman as Jim Gordon.
The American Fiction star hit out at the some of the critics, who thought a Black man should not play the leader of Gotham’s police force.
Jeffrey described the backlash as “the dumbest thing” and absent of “all logic” in his interview with Collider.
The Westworld actor “finds it fascinating” over such conversation about “Black character in these roles”.
“It’s just so racist and stupid,” declared the 59-year-old.
Jeffrey pointed out, “It’s just so blind in a way that I find revealing to not recognise that the evolution of these films reflects the evolution of society.”
“It’s defiling this franchise not to keep it grounded in the cultural reality of 1939 when the comic books were first published,” explained the Shaft actor.
Jeffrey shared the only reason Batman has endured as an “essential character in popular culture is because he was created to be open-ended”, which also gives future storytellers the “freedom to put their own spin on the Caped Crusader”.
“I feel that I own these stories as much as anyone. Perhaps now, because I’m a part of them, I have the most skin in the game,” he added.
Jeffrey noted that the success and the longevity of these “stories and characters are owing to the openness of their imaginations and what they created”.
Meanwhile, the actor will reprise the role in Matt Reeves’ sequel, The Batman: Part II and the movie will release on October 1, 2027.
