Although he didn’t show up or get mentioned in Batman v Superman — leading some fans to speculate that the character was dead in the DC Extended Universe — Commissioner James Gordon is alive and well, and will indeed be in Justice League: Part One, played by recently cast Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons.
Simmons, of course, played Peter Parker’s boss J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy, and in fact nailed the part so completely, that when the Mark Webb-directed Amazing Spider-Man reboot happened, they didn’t even bother recasting him, and just didn’t include the character at all. That’s what you call “leaving your mark on a character.”
Now Simmons is speaking up about being cast in the iconic DC Comics role for the first time. Recently the folks at Collider asked if he was drawing any inspiration from any of the previous live-action Jim Gordons — one of whom is still playing the role on TV’s Gotham — and here is what Simmons had to say:
“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.”
He further explained, “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.” He also says there are things in the character that he probably won’t be able to help but copy, but that’s more universal than a style choice. “I’m sure there will be differences and similarities with what Gary Oldman or Pat Hingle have done before,” Simmons continued, “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 won’t show up on set to play Gordon for a couple of months still, as he has two other film commitments to finish first. It’ll be interesting to see just how big a part Gordon plays in Justice League, as the character usually tends not to get involved in Batman’s larger than life JLA adventures. My feeling is the part won’t be that big, but will be expanded on in a much greater capacity in Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie.
What do you think of Simmons taking on the part of Jim Gordon for the DC Extended Universe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Hopefully the Justice League movie can make up for some of the shortcomings of BvS. We talk about them here!
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Images: DC Comics / Sony Pictures
