Few actors in the business can play grizzled badasses, wizened sages or father figures with a twinkle in their eye better than J.K. Simmons, and he often does it all as the same character in the space of a single movie. The Academy Award winner is a valuable addition to any project, something the superhero genre could be about to find out in a big way.
Not only did he make a surprise cameo at the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man: Far From Home as Jonah Jameson, reprising the role he played to phenomenal effect in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, but he’s heavily expected to return as the Daily Bugle magnate in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. To top it all off, Simmons recently entered talks to return as Commissioner Gordon in Batgirl, which would tie the HBO Max exclusive directly to the SnyderVerse in the process.
We’re now hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Ben Affleck was returning as Batman in The Flash long before it was confirmed – that Simmons could be set to ink a contract for up to five appearances as the Gotham City Police Department’s mustachioed main man, which may realistically see him bounce between streaming and theatrical releases to provide some connective tissue as yet another new era begins.
The 66 year-old has already appeared in 20 movies and 16 TV shows since the beginning of 2017, but he’s still set to make room in his schedule for the MCU, DCEU and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe as well. How that man finds the time to sleep is anybody’s guess, but he clearly loves keeping himself busy.