The Justice League post-mortem continues today, with Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons weighing in on the issue of scenes cut from the movie. The actor made his DC Universe debut in the superhero team-up tale, playing Commissioner Gordon and, though he featured quite prominently in promotional clips, many fans were dismayed to find that that he barely featured in the film itself.
Now, Simmons is providing his perspective on the matter – and it’s a fascinating one. Speaking to Collider, the actor clarified exactly what his experience working on the project was.
“I was barely in the movie, period. And then, that even got cut. I only worked with Zack [Snyder]. Because I don’t really pay attention to show business, outside of my own thing, I was unaware of most of that. I didn’t even know until somebody in the press told me about the re-shoots. And I have no idea what to expect going forward.”
It’s unfortunate that the situation surrounding Justice League is such that fans are suspicious about who was responsible for which parts of the production process. We know that Zack Snyder cast Simmons in the role of Commissioner Gordon, and we know that he completed his own principal photography before stepping away to deal with a personal issue.
We also know that Joss Whedon was then employed to undertake reshoots and – judging by the finished film that landed in theaters – undertake the editing the process. Evidently, since Simmons was not involved in shooting scenes with Whedon, it’s possible that the director was not especially invested in Commissioner Gordon’s presence in the film – which explains why a lot of his contribution was cut back.
So, with Zack Snyder essentially out of the picture within the DC Universe – beyond producing Aquaman – the question remains as to Simmons’ involvement in the franchise going forward – and even the actor himself seems unsure about the answer. We could assume that his character will involved in The Batman – which is still slated to be directed by Matt Reeves – but this project has apparently yet to coalesce into a solid, confirmed movie. In fact, Simmons makes clear that he’s never even met Reeves.
“Assuming that we’re gonna go forward, the way we think it will, I’m really looking forward to that. Hopefully, it will be really fun and the character will expand a little bit, particularly in the stand-alone Batman movie. There will be more to do. I guess it’s Matt Reeves now for that one, who I haven’t met. So, it will be a whole new collaborator to get together and work with, hopefully.”
The language used by Simmons here indicates that he doesn’t know for sure what future appearances for Commissioner Gordon will mean for the development of his character – which suggests that he’s yet to see anything resembling a script. That being the case – and if Commissioner Gordon is indeed in it – the project is clearly still very much in its infancy, and we won’t be seeing The Batman any time soon. Justice League, on the other hand, is released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 13th, and can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.