The fallout from Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has left the geek community about as fractured as it’s been in a while. Some were on board with the film’s dark, dour tone, while others felt it should be closer to the lighter, more fun-loving flicks in Marvel’s stable. Some liked that it took liberties with characters who have been in popular culture for decades, but most felt it had a deep misunderstanding of its lead superheroes (most notably Superman). Warner Bros. has even gone so far in their damage control as to invite comic-friendly members of the press to the “Justice League” set tour in London. One thing that people can actually agree on though, is the casting of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Jim Gordon in the next punch-up.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, an incredibly busy Simmons talked about some of his upcoming roles, the highest profile of them all being the uniting of the World’s Finest. And as you’d expect from a Snyder joint, there will be a bit more grit.
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“People of my generation remember Commissioner Gordon as this jolly, ineffectual Santa Claus type, and I think over the years in the comics there’s definitely much more of a badass side to him,” Simmons said. “One of the things that’s interesting to me is investigating hopefully a little bit more of that badass [side]…You’re living in a universe where it’s pretty tough to be a badass compared to somebody like Batman, but in the universe of non-superheroes I like the idea of Commissioner Gordon as a guy that can take care of himself, a guy that’s a real partner to Batman, not just a guy that turns on the bat signal and goes, ‘Help! Help, Batman!’”
It’s understandable that Simmons wants to give a different performance than the Pat Hingle or Neil Hamilton iterations of the character, but Gary Oldman’s take in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy” was no slouch himself. Lest we forget, it was his plan to fake his death and capture The Joker when he was still just a detective in “The Dark Knight.”
But what about those photos that have circulated of Simmons getting ripped at the gym? Most assumed it was for his “Justice League” role, but the 60-year-old actor has since clarified he’s just been trying to get fit:
“I’m not going to lie, the inner 12-year-old is very gratified. I feel like — this is a reference that only the 60-year-olds are going to get — but on ‘Leave It To Beaver,’ Beaver’s big brother would often be in his bedroom by himself flexing his arms in the mirror and Beaver would walk in and bust him, and so I’m glad that the photos of me seven or eight years ago when I weighed 250 pounds were not circulated as widely as those photos,” he explained.
Simmons can next be seen in Gavin O’Connor’s “The Accountant” on October 14th. “Justice League” arrives in theaters on November 17, 2017.
