J.K. Simmons explains what makes the MCU’s Jonah Jameson different

When Spider-Man: No Way Home was confirmed to be a multiversal adventure, bringing back Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman and Rhys Ifans’ Lizard, not to mention the rampant speculation surrounding Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, fans were stoked.

However, it’s raised one very important question that nobody seems willing to answer: where exactly does J.K. Simmons’ Jonah Jameson fit in? Now that alternate realities and fractured timelines are in play, thinking too much about the actor’s return in Far From Home is enough to make your head hurt.

We’ve got the same guy playing the same character that he played in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, who was coincidentally never seen in Garfield’s two outings, except he’s not the same person. Or is he? Sure, he’s bald and operates on the internet instead of in print, but what if Jameson is the first multiversal traveler? Or is he just replacing himself?

Well, Simmons tried to address the issue on a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he explained the differences between the two Daily Bugle magnates, but didn’t really clear things up.

“I think it’s a slightly different version, certainly from the creators of this current iteration of the story, it’s a very different character. To me, it’s a slightly different character. It’s the same blowhard, the same guy with less hair, and honestly, I kinda wish he still had the same hair, but I think the first time they asked me to do it, I assume it was kinda late notice decision on their parts to add Jameson because once they came and asked me to do it, it was like ‘Let’s sit down, let’s have a meeting with all the big wigs as Sony and talk about it,’ and, ‘Yes, ok,’ and, ‘Bang, Bang, Bang, the deal’s done and, you know, we’re shooting the day after tomorrow, and no we don’t want you to have the flat-top haircut,’ and I was like ‘wait, wait, wait, what?’ ‘Yeah, we don’t want the cigar and the mustache and the blah blah blah,’ and I was like, ‘That’s kinda the guy, you know?’”

The fact he’s also technically part of Sony’s Marvel universe as well doesn’t make things any clearer, but we’re happy to go along with it, simply because it’s great to have him back.