Oscar-winner JK Simmons is all set to shift sides from Marvel to DC with his new role as Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming "Justice League" films. Marvel fans, who were rooting for Simmons to reprise his role as J Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy in the new "Spider-Man reboot," were of course disappointed. However, a large section of superhero fans are quite excited about seeing the actor in a much darker and serious DC Cinematic Universe.
During a recent interview with Collider, Simmons spoke about how he plans to approach the role, which was brilliantly portrayed earlier by Gary Oldman in "The Dark Knight Trilogy."
"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," Simmons said.
He added, "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'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."
Simmons also spoke about playing the "comic relief" in the earlier "Spider-Man" movies and explained how his new DC character will be much more "stronger and impactful."
"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."
It remains to be seen if Simmons also joins the cast of Ben Affleck's solo "Batman" movie, which will kick off after the two-part "Justice League."
