J.K. Simmons says “there is a future” in the MCU films for his character from the “Spider-Man” movies J. Jonah Jameson, with the potential for at least two more appearances.
Simmons surprised audiences last summer when he reprised his role from the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” movies as the Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson in a post-credits scene for “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” the first time an actor from a previous franchise has appeared as his same character in the MCU movies.
“We have, assuming that movie theaters reopen and people are back in movie theaters some time in the next…ever, and if not, I guess we’ll see it on our TVs at home,” Simmons said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show.” “There is one more JJJ appearance in the can, and from what I’m hearing, there is a plan for yet another one.”
Simmons likened his performance to the smaller role he has in the Apple TV+ series with Chris Evans, “Defending Jacob.”
“I come in, I do my thing, it’s not the biggest part in the thing, I’m only in six, seven, eight scenes, but it has an impact while I’m there,” Simmons said. “I really kind of like not having to shoulder the whole load a la Chris Evans, but I like doing my thing and having that thing be impactful.”
Simmons even recorded a separate series of clips in character as Jameson for a special website that launched alongside “Spider-Man: Far From Home. In the clips, he portrays an Alex Jones-type personality rather than as a newspaper editor, though his publication is still The Daily Bugle.
Kevin Feige actually made a point to say that although it may be the same actor, the J. Jonah Jameson that appears in the MCU is not the same character.
“The thing is, J.K. Simmons is such a versatile actor. Look at what he’s done over the years since his iconic portrayal of this character in the Sam Raimi films,” Feige told ScreenRant last July. “And then all of his work, ‘Whiplash’ being one of the biggest ones. It can be the same actor with that somewhat similar voice inflection, but with a totally different persona. That had never been done before. We really liked the idea that it’s a new Jameson, he’s not from another dimension or multiverse or something like that. It’s a new Jameson in this world played by the same actor.”