Batman has been fighting crime in Gotham City for over 20 years in the DC Extended Universe, but he hasn't been waging this war alone. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice introduced Bruce Wayne's trusted butler/confidant Alfred Pennyworth, and next year, Justice League will introduce the Caped Crusader's main ally in the Gotham City Police Department, Commissioner James Gordon, played by J.K. Simmons. Although Simmons' Gordon won't be one of Justice League's principal players, the actor nonetheless has a fair amount to do during principal photography, and that first day of shooting was especially busy.
While plugging his latest movie, The Accountant (which also stars Ben Affleck), with Collider, Simmons discussed the very first Justice League scene he shot a few months back, which involved Gordon speaking with Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Flash on top of the GCPD rooftop. While most actors may want to take a small first step to properly get into character on the first day, Simmons' confirmed to interviewer Steve Weintraub that he was definitely there was nothing "small" about working on this set. He explained:
When you're working with Zack Snyder 'small' is not the word that comes to mind, or any of those DC Universe kinds of projects. I mean there are two schools of thought about that for actors. It is kind of nice, in a way---especially when you're playing a supporting part---to start out just kind of doing a little 'Oh and then you're gonna walk down this hall, say hi to this guy, and that's your day's work.' Kinda get your feet wet. Or whether it's better to just dive into the deep end and get some of the heavy stuff out of the way. It was fun, I mean that whole universe is something I'm really excited to be a part of for a while down the road hopefully.
Not only is Justice League the fifth installment in the DCEU, it's also bringing together most of this franchise's main heroes together for the first time. To say J.K. Simmons jumped into a busy movie when he signed on to play Commissioner Gordon would be an understatement, but fortunately, it sounds like he didn't mind jumping into the proverbial deep end on his first day. When you're surrounded by some of the most famous superheroes of all time, that definitely would help take the edge off.
J.K. Simmons wrapped his Justice League participation three weeks ago, but it's highly unlikely his time in the DCEU is over. While nothing is set in stone yet, it's a good bet he'll return for The Batman alongside Ben Affleck (duh) and Joe Joe Manganiello, who is playing Deathstroke. That movie is approximately a year and a half away, and considering that DC movies like to get their main shoot out of the way at least a year before hitting theaters, Simmons may be getting a call soon about joining the Dark Knight's next big screen adventure.
Justice League arrives in theaters on November 17, 2017.
