Oscar winner J.K. Simmons will play Commissioner Gordon in Justice League, which will be directed by Zack Snyder. Simmons, currently promoting his new film The Meddler, recently spoke to Collider on how he’s preparing for the big role.
“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,” said Simmons. “Other than that, it’s a vastly different character and much more of a stronger, impactful character in the DC universe.”
The film sees Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) unite forces to combat a threat beyond each member’s capabilities.
Commissioner James Gordon has been played by a slew of actors over the years, including Lyle Talbot in the 1949 series Batman and Robin, Neil Hamilton in the TV series Batman in the 1960s, and, most recently, by Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight films.
“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,” added Simmons. “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. I take this from my days doing theater. 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.”
Justice League will be released in two parts by Warner Bros. Part One will be released November 17, 2017.
