At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, viewers were treated to a surprise cameo by J.K. Simmons, who’s now playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s J. Jonah Jameson following his time as the character in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film series. Although this version of Jameson runs The Daily Bugle as an online news outlet rather than a newspaper, he’s just as hateful towards Spider-Man as usually depicted, and we’ll see him keeping up his anti-Web-Slinger crusade later this month in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But here’s the weird thing: Tom Holland has never actually met Simmons in person.
While Tobey Maguire interacted with J.K. Simmons many times in the original Spider-Man movies, evidently things didn’t work out for Tom Holland to cross paths with Simmons during Spider-Man: No Way Home’s production. Here’s what Holland told CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell during the No Way Home junket:
I've actually never met J.K. We hadn't (had) a scene together. There's a moment in this film where we, like, share a look where I'm on the side of the building, and that's it. I've never actually had the pleasure to meet him. I'm a huge fan of his work. I know that during filming, COVID protocols were pretty serious. Like, people would come in, every now and again, to our bubbles. They were trying to keep us safe, (with) all sorts of different things going on. So unfortunately, due to the nature of the process in filming this film, I didn't get a chance to meet him. I'm sure I will.
Maybe if Spider-Man: No Way Home had shot during a time where a widespread virus wasn’t an ongoing concern, Tom Holland and J.K. Simmons could have acted together on camera for at least one scene, if not several. Alas, that’s not the world we live in, so instead, the only moment in No Way Home where Holland’s Peter Parker and Simmons’ J.K. Simmons are in the general vicinity of one another was shot separately with each actor. But with the prospect of more Holland-led Spider-Man movies on the horizon, like the actor noted, there’s good chance he and Simmons will act together someday.
Still, even from afar, J.K. Simmons’ latest version of J. Jonah Jameson has caused a lot of trouble for Peter Parker in the MCU. In the Spider-Man: Far From Home mid-credits scene, The Daily Bugle broadcasted the doctored footage Mysterio and his team put together that not only revealed Spider-Man’s secret identity, but also framed him for the Elemental attack in London and Mysterio’s death. A tweaked version of that broadcast aired at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage after Eddie Brock and his symbiote were transported to the MCU.
Outside of his continued efforts to convince everyone that Spider-Man as a menace, it’s unclear what’s specifically in store for J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That said, taking into account Tom Holland’s quote to CinemaBlend and the brief footage of Jameson in the last No Way Home trailer, it looks like we may see Peter save Jameson from some pandemonium caused by Electro and Sandman. Still, I doubt that’ll do much good in persuading Jameson that Spidey is a force for good.
Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters on December 17, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news concerning the threequel and other upcoming Marvel movies.
