'Justice League' Movie Cast Adds J.K. Simmons To Play Commissioner Gordon In Part One Of The 2017 Film

As DC Comics and Warner Bros. continue to push forward with their expanded film universe, yet another iconic character from the written source material has been cast with a talented actor stepping up to play the role. Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons has been confirmed as the new Commissioner James Gordon in “The Justice League.”

The Hollywood Reporter first announced that Zack Snyder will direct the “Whiplash” star in the superhero team-up movie, currently scheduled for a Nov. 17, 2017 release date. The story will be split into two parts and see the superheroes Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) take on a yet unknown threat that’s too great for any one of the heroes to combat on his or her own. As any fan of the DC Comics world will know, Gordon is one of the most important characters in Batman’s orbit. The role has been played by many actors in various different TV and film projects throughout the years, most recently by Ben McKenzie in the Fox series “Gotham.”

While Simmons seems to have the right look and temperament to be the new Commissioner Gordon, many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be disappointed to see the 61-year-old actor take on such an important role with Marvel’s principal rival, DC. Previously Simmons brought the popular “Spider-Man” character J. Jonah Jameson to life in Sam Raimi’s trilogy. He continues to voice the character on Disney XD’s animated “Ultimate Spider-Man” cartoon as well. When it was revealed that Spidey would be rebooted a third time under the MCU banner, a fan petition was created to try and convince those in charge to let Simmons reprise his role.

“That petition does not come from anybody that is in a position to do anything about it,” Jameson told Entertainment Tonight when asked about his interest to play Jameson again. “Doing those movies with Sam was one of the great joys of my career, and it was a super fun character. So, I’ll never close the door on anything.”

Sadly, with the actor officially on board for the two-part “Justice League” movie, it looks like he may not be in the best position to play Jameson in the upcoming “Spider-Man” reboot, which is scheduled to come out in 2017 as well.

Who would you rather see Simmons play, Jameson or Gordon? Comment below or tweet your thoughts on the casting news to @TylerMcCarthy.