‘Justice League’ Adds Simmons To Cast


The Justice League hardly needs any more hard hitters, yet it is getting one more with the addition of J.K. Simmons to the cast as Commissioner Gordon.

Justice League’s Commissioner Gordon

Simmons has big shoes to fill, or at least several of them, since the Justice League has seen its share of actors playing parts of the whole League team, and the role of Commissioner Gordon is no exception. From Lyle Talbot in 1949, to Neil Hamilton’s portrayal in the sixties, through to Gary Oldman in the Dark Knight movies. Of course, there is also Ben McKenzie who plays the police commissioner in his earlier years on Fox’s Gotham, who also deals with Bruce Wayne in his earlier years.

Every character J.K. Simmons has ever played has been quintessentially “Simmons,” so how will he pull this latest role together? Will he gather pieces from each predecessor, go back to the original animated character, or combine a little bit of everything, injecting his unique Simmons style on top of it all? The jury’s still out on who has played the best Batman; there are certainly discussions to be had on who has been (or will be) the best Commissioner Gordon.

For now, however, Gotham City has found its newest police commissioner in J.K. Simmons. Playing Batman’s ally in the newest Justice League story, the audience will get to see Simmons twice, says the Hollywood Reporter, since the movie will be released in two parts, the first on November 17, 2017 and the second part on June 14, 2019.

In addition to Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Justice League will have Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg. Interestingly, when Justice League: Part One comes out in November next year, its release comes several months after Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will begin running this March 25. Obviously, Batman and Superman both survive their feud then?

Although the official trailer is not out yet for The Justice League Part One, the official storyline is. “Earth’s greatest heroes are assembled to form the Justice League, to combat a threat beyond each member’s capabilities.” This hints at Aristotle’s idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each one of these characters embodies their own special superpower, but the enemy they will be facing will require them all to come together as a team to conquer it.

Simmons

Simmons is not an idle man, and his face and voice are recognizable across many genres and generations. Although he won an Oscar for best supporting actor in the movie Whiplash, he might be more well-known to some for playing the boss, J. Jonah Jameson, in the Spider-Man movies. Or Will Pope in the TV series The Closer. Or Dr. Emil Skoda in Law and Order. Simmons also just got done filming Patriots’ Day with Mark Wahlberg, about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, wherein he plays the real-life sergeant of the Watertown Police Department who actively engaged with the brother terrorists, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The next generation knows his voice from Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3, and Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia. And he has a bucket of movies in the queue soon to be released. Needless to say, Simmons has a slew of acting and voice performances under his belt and will be a welcome addition as Commissioner Gordon in the Justice League. It seems he can handle any type of role there is!

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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