Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons delighted everyone when he reprised his role of J. Jonah Jameson in Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ “Spider-Man: Far From Home”.
Simmons played Jameson in the three Tobey Maguire-led “Spider-Man” films, movies that are part of a separate continuity to the previous ones. However, much like Judi Dench retaining the ‘M’ role for “Casino Royale,” they opted to bring the same actor back in the same role albeit slightly modified for this new set of films.
Though only a cameo in the end credits, Simmons spoke with PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing podcast this week and was asked if he expects to reprise his role for the next one. “I don’t know if I would use the word expect” he says before going on to reveal he has signed on to appear in multiple “Spider-Man” sequels.
The studio isn’t necessarily obligated to use him in any follow-up and Simmons is grateful whatever chance he gets to return to the franchise: “It’s great to have the opportunity, as these things evolve, to be one of the holdovers from the previous version”
Simmons also discussed how he landed the part for the original Raimi trilogy, doing so with an old-school classic camera test to win over some skeptical executives:
“The producers and the people at Sony, they needed to be convinced, because obviously, there were a lot of much more high-profile actors that they had in mind that would help with the box office. It was very nerve-wracking.
It included a scene where the Green Goblin breaks through the windows and picks me up by the throat, lifts me up in the air, and is strangling me, I’m holding the script pages, reading the scene on the audition, but then at the same time, trying to…pretending I’m being lifted by the neck and choked.”
The next “Spider-Man” film is targeting a November 5th 2021 release though it’s not clear if it will move from that date or not. Filming on the project has yet to begin.
