Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane in May 1, 1939 for
Detective Comics #27 - The Case of the Chemical Syndicate, Commissioner James
Gordon has appeared on the big screen a time or two. Pat Hingle played the
character throughout the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman series, even
though the character was nothing more than set dressing. More recently however,
Gordon's role in the Batman cinematic mythos grew with Gary Oldman in
Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, where the character had a significant
role to play in the shaping of the plot.
The latest actor to put on the mustache and turn
on the Bat-Signal will be J.K. Simmons in Zack Snyder's Justice League, the
fifth entry in Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe.
Speaking to Collider, Simmons revealed he was has
turned to the comics to learn more about the character and its history before
stepping in front of the camera.
"Well, to read the comics, yes, absolutely. I’m
still a couple of months out from doing that and I have two other films before
then, so I haven’t gotten started on that. Obviously, a lot of really wonderful
actors have played that character previously, and most of them I saw at the
time the movies came out, never imagining that I would be doing the same thing.
So, I can’t say that I don’t have some impression of that character in my head
that’s based on what I saw, but I’m not planning on going back and watching any
of the other films. I’m just planning on learning as much as I can about him
through the comics and getting my feet wet in the first movie, and then
hopefully continuing on from there."
Simmons also equated his take on the character to
doing theater as a way to avoid repeating what Hingle and Oldman did in previous movies.
"I take this from my days doing theater. If I was
doing a musical, I would never listen to the cast album because I wanted to do
my version of something. I’m sure there will be differences and similarities
with what Gary
Oldman or Pat Hingle have done before, but I’m just
going to try to do my take on it and be as informed as I can about the rich
history of the Batman universe, going into it."
Finally, the Academy Award winning actor said that the
similarities between Gordon and his famous portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson in Sam
Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy start and end with the facial hair.
"There are easy comparisons to make. I wasn’t a
big comic book reading kid, so I did a fair amount of reading when I was
playing Jameson, who was very much the comic relief in those movies. Even in
the comics, he was a blowhard who was all bark and very rarely bite. My
understanding, from what I’ve learned so far about Commissioner Gordon, is that
he’s the older guy with the mustache who relates with our hero in a certain way.
Other than that, it’s a vastly different character and much more of a stronger,
impactful character in the DC universe."
Already in production, Justice League - Part 1 opens
in theaters on November 17, 2017.
Source - Collider
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