J.K. Simmons is set to play Commissioner Gordon in the DC Extended Universe"¦ the same character portrayed by Pat Hingle in Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher's Batman movies and Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. But, unlike the other two, Simmons won't be introduced in a BATMAN movie. His first appearance as the GCPD officer will be in Justice League Part One.
Along with the Caped Crusader, the November 17, 2017 release will also feature big superheroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman. And it may also feature one or more from the Green Lantern Corps.
We can't expect a supporting character like Commissioner Gordon to have a lot of screen time in Justice League. And that's what J.K. Simmons actually confirms in a recent interview with DP/30 (via Comic Book). The Academy Award-winning actor states, “I don’t get started on that until June, and my part in the first one is very small. I’m excited to be playing that iconic character in that iconic series.”
However, Simmons doesn't believe it is a one-and-done role. He sees the possibility of reprising the character a number of times in the future: “I’m going into a thing that hopefully will be two, three, four, maybe more, movies for me"¦”
Of course, it’s been confirmed that there's a Batman movie in the works. We can definitely expect Commissioner Gordon to have a much more extended role in that one, compared to his Justice League role.
During the interview, Simmons also talked about his take on the character. As he has said before, he will try not to watch either the Pat Hingle or the Gary Oldman version of Commissioner Gordon again. His research will be focused on the comic books. The actor explains:
But obviously, we know who the guy is. We know his whole backstory, based on the comic book. So, I’m just gonna finish doing my research on that. And probably not watch the other actors who have played the part, because that is kind of intimidating, honestly, and I don’t think I would find that to be productive. So, I’ll do my take.
It’s always good to see first-class actors take on comic book movie roles. Even though Commissioner Gordon is a supporting character, the part is rich enough to deserve a fine actor like J.K. Simmons. You can check out the interview clip below!
