I know a lot of folks were pulling for J.K. Simmons to return to the Spidey-verse as J. Jonah Jameson, so it almost seemed out of left field when it was announced that he would be signing up to play Commissioner Gordon in THE JUSTICE LEAGUE PART ONE. Simmons is a phenomenal actor so there's no doubts that he's going to give the role his all, but he recently spoke with Collider regarding his prep for JUSTICE LEAGUE and how he's approaching the character.
J.K. Simmons on whether or not he's studying up on his character:
Well, to read the comics, yes, absolutely. I’m still a couple of months out from doing that and I have two other films before then, so I haven’t gotten started on that. Obviously, a lot of really wonderful actors have played that character previously, and most of them I saw at the time the movies came out, never imagining that I would be doing the same thing. So, I can’t say that I don’t have some impression of that character in my head that’s based on what I saw, but I’m not planning on going back and watching any of the other films. I’m just planning on learning as much as I can about him through the comics and getting my feet wet in the first movie, and then hopefully continuing on from there.
I take this from my days doing theater. If I was doing a musical, I would never listen to the cast album because I wanted to do my version of something. I’m sure there will be differences and similarities with what Gary Oldman or Pat Hingle have done before, but I’m just going to try to do my take on it and be as informed as I can about the rich history of the Batman universe, going into it.
Regarding the similarities between J. Jonah Jameson and Commissioner Gordon:
There are easy comparisons to make. I wasn’t a big comic book reading kid, so I did a fair amount of reading when I was playing Jameson, who was very much the comic relief in those movies. Even in the comics, he was a blowhard who was all bark and very rarely bite. My understanding, from what I’ve learned so far about Commissioner Gordon, is that he’s the older guy with the mustache who relates with our hero in a certain way. Other than that, it’s a vastly different character and much more of a stronger, impactful character in the DC universe.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE was meant to pave the way for JUSTICE LEAGUE. Rather, I'd say it paved the way for Batman and Wonder Woman. WB and Zack Snyder still have some fans left to win over, so I'm hoping they can cobble together a much tighter film for their next effort. As far as the casting is concerned for JUSTICE LEAGUE, it's looking pretty top-notch!
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE PART ONE is scheduled to hit theaters on November 17, 2017.