J.K. Simmons Will Play Justice League's Commissioner Gordon
The Justice League have found their Commissioner Gordon. Oscar winner and one-time J. Jonah Jameson (sorry folks, he’s hopped on board the DC train) J.K Simmons has been cast in the role of Batman’s loyal man on the inside.
Justice League, which will be directed by Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice helmer Zack Snyder, sees Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) team up to face a foe greater than their individual strengths.
The film, which is written by Chris Terrio, will be released in two parts with Part One set to begin shooting in April for release on Nov 17, 2017 while Part Two will hit theaters on June 14, 2019.
As for Commissioner Gordon, there have been several actors who’ve taken on the mantle of the only good cop in Gotham, including Lyle Talbot in the 1949 series Batman and Robin, Neil Hamilton in the TV series Batman in the 1960s, Pat Hingle in the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman movie franchise, and most recently, by Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight films.
And that’s not to mention the integral part Gordon plays in Gotham, Fox’s take on the early days of Jim Gordon, where he’s played by Ben McKenzie.
What’s interesting is that in previous drafts of Batman V Superman, Commissioner Gordon was swapped out for Robin as the character whose loss gravely affected Bruce Wayne’s decision to walk away from the cowl.
As reported in Birth, Movies, Death, Batman has been operating for 17 years, so there’s a lot of untold tales from Batman’s past that have yet to be explored. However, one such tale that has reached an end is Gordon's; owed to the presence of a memorial plaque in his name.
Now, drafts alter all the time; we’ve just lost Jena Malone from the final cut and she was heavily rumoured to either be playing Barbara Gordon or Carrie Kelley – the Robin from Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns – although, with the cut and the promised R rated version to via DVD/Blu-ray it does seem likely that Malone may have been playing the daughter of Jim Gordon, who, as fans of The Killing Joke will be able to tell you, has a very violent altercation with The Joker. The kind of altercation that might push a film from a PG-13 to an R…
In fact, Snyder himself, who has by and large remained quiet on the issue of cutting Malone’s performance, told IGN that she isn’t playing either Batgirl or Robin; leaving just Barbara Gordon…or another mystery character.
So with all the changes to scripts and the final cut, perhaps rumours of Jim Gordon’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
As well as playing Jameson in both the movies and in voice form in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series and other Marvel cartoons; Simmons also has previous DC experience voicing General Wade Eiling in Justice League Unlimited and Evil Star in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
So maybe there’s a chance he’ll be back at The Daily Bugle too. Although, if you signed the petition to get him reinstated in future Spider-Man movies, don’t expect to have the backing of Simmons himself.
Speaking on the red carpet he Film Independent Spirit Awards, J.K. Simmons opened up regarding the fan petition, as well as his desire to return as the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle:
“That petition does not come from anybody that is in a position to do anything about it.”
He’s nothing if not pragmatic.
Reflecting on his time working with Sam Raimi on all three original Spider-Man movies, Simmons added: “Doing those movies with Sam was one of the great joys of my career, and it was a super fun character...so I'll never close the door on anything”.