Commissioner Gordon and J. Jonah Jameson are two of the most popular and beloved supporting characters in comic book history, although each of them has a very different relationship with an iconic superhero. Gordon is a longtime friend and ally of Batman, while Jameson just wants someone to get him pictures of Spider-Man, especially that unassuming Parker kid that works for him.
Besides glorious mustaches, the other major thing the two have in common is that they’ve both been played on the big screen by Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons. His Jameson was one of the highlights of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, but he wasn’t really given a whole lot to do as Gordon when he showed up in Justice League.
After Spidey was rebooted into the MCU, there were rumors making the rounds that Jameson would appear in the franchise, but fans couldn’t imagine anyone other than Simmons playing the character. Luckily, neither could Marvel, and during Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s post-credits scene, the 65 year-old made a surprising but more than welcome return.
Jameson has been updated for the digital age, although a lot of people were left wondering what happened to his signature flattop. Now, in a recent interview, the Whiplash star has explained why the decision was made to have the cigar-chomping newspaper publisher rock a bald head, saying:
“The only thing we didn’t a hundred percent see eye to eye on, I think, was how much is this character going to be the character from, I think, the comic books and from the Sam Raimi original trilogy, and how much do we want to evolve it and to have it be more contemporary. I was very attached to what I had done previously for a variety of reasons. So I guess the compromise ended up being no hair. So, J. Jonah Jameson either lost his hair in the last few years, or he was wearing a hairpiece the whole time. I don’t know, you pick.”
Simmons can say whatever he wants about compromises, but the reason Jameson was bald is more than likely because they had to sneak him onto the set to shoot a cameo without anyone finding out, and didn’t have the time to either create a wig or see if they could find a suitable one. Nitpicking aside, though, it was great to see him back, and let’s hope it marks just the first of many MCU appearances.