J.K. Simmons Discusses His Preparation to Play Commissioner Gordon in JUSTICE LEAGUE

A few weeks ago, it was revealed that J.K. Simmons will play the DC Extended Universe’s version of Commissioner James Gordon in Justice League, which began production last week. Now, the Academy Award winning actor has commented on the role for the first time.

Speaking with Collider, Simmons says in his preparation to play Gordon, he is “absolutely” reading the comics, and that he will begin shooting his scenes for Justice League in “a couple of months.” He adds that he is familiar with the past big screen iterations of Gordon, but he’s more focused on creating his own take on the character. “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.”

Interesting that Simmons says he’s prepping for the “first movie” to play Gordon. It has been expected that the actor will reprise the role in other DCEU films, such as Ben Affleck’s Batman movie. Could Simmons’ comment here confirm that he will play Gordon in multiple movies? Maybe. But it wouldn’t be too surprising, since many comic book roles nowadays come with multi-film contracts.

Elaborating on his avoidance of taking influence from past portrayals of Gordon, Simmons says compares it to theaters and musicals, rehashing that he wants to create “my version” of the character. “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.”

Of course, Commissioner Gordon isn’t the first comic book character to be played by J.K. Simmons. The actor is known for playing J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, delivering what is one of the best comic book movie performances ever. Simmons says that his Jameson and his Gordon will be very different characters. “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.”

Are you excited to see J.K. Simmons’ portrayal of Commissioner Gordon?

Justice League Part One is scheduled to hit theaters November 17th, 2017. The fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amber Heard, Joe Morton and J.K. Simmons. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio.