Many fans were disappointed when it was announced Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 4was no longer happening, capping off the Tobey Maguire-led series of movies as a trilogy. One person who felt particularly saddened over the situation is J.K. Simmons, who had been playing J. Jonah Jameson in all three of Raimi’sSpider-Manmovies. Like Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, Simmons was also on board to reprise his role in the fourth movie, but issues behind the scenes led to the project’s collapse before it managed to get off the ground.
It’s worked itself out well enough withSimmons returning to the J. Jonah Jameson rolein the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He first made his debut with a brief cameo after the credits inSpider-Man: Far from Homewith JJJ revealing Spidey’s true identity to the world. This will directly lead into the events ofSpider-Man: No Way Homewith Simmons back in the role of Jameson once again.
While promotingBeing the Ricardos, Simmons was asked about hisSpider-Manfranchise role, as we’ll see him back on the big screen as J. Jonah Jameson soon enough. The actor reflected back upon when he was all set to play Jameson for the fourth time inSpider-Man 4, only to feel heartbroken when the sequel fizzled out. He remained grateful for the role, and as Simmons explains, he was “thrilled” when Marvel Studios reached out to bring him back into this new continuity as a variant version of JJJ.
“After Sam Raimi’s trilogy, when they moved on from there, it was heartbreaking, I’m not going to lie. I thought, ‘Oh well, that was amazing fun, and I was so glad I had that opportunity.’ When they came back a couple years ago, and said we want to revive that gasbag of a character, I was thrilled. You know, it’s just a question of adapting him a little bit to 2020, or 2019, or whenever the first movie (Spider-Man: Far from Home) came out. Really, to me, he’s the same blowhard, just instead of running a newspaper, he runs a media empire.”
Recently,J.K. Simmonsalso revealed how Marvel’s plan to bring him back initially came with some very big design changes for the character. Not only did they want to remove JJJ’s flat top, but his trademark mustache also had to go. Simmons relented on the hair, but he says he fought to keep the mustache, a battle he won out in the end with JJJ keeping his facial hair in the newSpider-Manmovies. He similarly said how he sees this variant as the same character, noting on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, “[It’s a] slightly different version… Certainly, from the creators of this 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.”
We will see J. Jonah Jameson back with Simmons in the role whenSpider-Man: No Way Homedebuts in theaters on Dec. 17. This news comes to us fromThe Hollywood Reporter.
