J.K. Simmons Talks Commissioner Gordon

By Reggie's Take on April 17, 2016

J.K. Simmons who will make his debut as “Commissioner Gordon” in Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” movie recently spoke about getting ready to play such an iconic “Batman” character.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in its fourth weekend in theaters earned just over $9 million bringing its domestic earnings just over $311 million with a world wide total of just over $827 million. Even though the $311 million domestically is $20 million more then what “Man of Steel” made during its theatrical run the movie by some is considered a huge disappointment.

One of the bright spots that everyone seems to agree on from “Batman v Superman” was Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Warner Brother’s recent announcement that a new solo “Batman” movie with Ben Affleck was news many were hoping for.

Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” movie began filming last week and one of the new actors joining Warner Brother’s DCEU is Oscar winning actor J.K. Simmons. Just recently, Collider was able to catch up with the actor and talk to him about playing what’s become one of the more important roles in the “Batman” movie universe.

Simmons was asked If he’s been reading the comics to prepare for the role?

“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.”

Gary Oldman as Gordon

What is he doing about trying to make the role of “Gordon” his own and avoiding what other have done before him?

“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.”

With having already played “J. Jonah Jameson” in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy what if any similarities were there between the two iconic comic book characters.

“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.”

I can only assume with the recent announcement of a new solo “Batman” movie with Affleck that when Simmons joined the “Justice League” movie that Warner Brother’s signed the Oscar winner to possible multiple movies.

For me personally I look forward to seeing what he brings to the role and what kind of “Commissioner Gordon” have Snyder and company come up with.