It's no secret that comic book movies are everywhere. As such, plenty of A-list stars are signing on to play characters from both Marvel and DC comics, which is a job that comes with lots of pressure. Comic fans are very particular about the adaptation of their beloved heroes, so both the actors and studio have to do a fair amount of research to properly honor the source material. As such, they're both affected to do a fair amount of research, including actor J.K. Simmons. Simmons is currently playing Commissioner Gordon in the DC Extended Universe, and recently revealed what he did to prepare for the daunting role last made famous by Gary Oldman.
There was definitely a little bit of an intimidation factor but I wasn't going to sit down in my living room, get out my DVDs and watch Gary Oldman. I obviously had a tiny little part in the first movie and I did more reading of comics and talking to friends who were comic book aficionados rather than watching or listening to the wonderful actors who have played that character in the past.
It looks like J.K. Simmons wasn't looking to Batman's long history on the silver and small screen for inspiration. Instead, he read some of the comics, and spoke about the character with experts.
J.K. Simmons' comments to The Metro (via NP Telegraph) might come to a surprise for many of Batman's biggest fans. Commissioner Gordon is one of Batman's closest allies, and has therefore been brought to film life a great number of times. As such, Simmons theoretically should have had a wealth of footage to dive into before eventually starting filming for Zack Snyder's Justice League. Alas, he decided to pivot away from the past incarnations, and therefore develop a new character free of other actors' influence.
If J.K. Simmons had decided to watch all the other versions of Commissioner Gordon, he'd have quite the selection of media to go through. As he said, the most notable one would be Gary Oldman, who starred as the character during Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. His portrayal is likely the most layered and complex one yet, and one that Simmons seems all too aware of.
Commissioner Gordon was a more tertiary (and ridiculous) character during Joel Schumacher's Batman franchise. He was shown to be largely inept, aside from turning on the Bat signal whenever the crap hit the fan. He's also a main character of Gotham, although a much younger version. Gordon actually had more interesting goes through the use of voice actors. He was great in the 90's Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the Arkham video game series and, most recently, the Telltale Batman games.
J.K. Simmons will reprise his role as Commissioner Gordon in Matt Reeves' untitled Batman movie, although it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he showed up during Batman's appearance in Flashpoint. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies this year.
