It’s official: Spider-Man: No Way Home is taking Marvel fans back to the Sam Raimi trilogy with a few returning characters from the first big-screen franchise starring Peter Parker. Yes, it’s been confirmed that Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius, and J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson will be part of the upcoming movie (among others) and we couldn’t be more excited. Ahead of its release, Simmons shared a behind-the-scenes story about how he fought for one vital part that makes J. Jonah, J. Jonah.
As you might remember, in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, J.K. Simmons unexpectedly reprised the role at the end of the film to share the identity of Spider-Man, thanks to Mysterio’s evil plan. As we move forward to No Way Home, the actor spoke to the Happy Sad Confused podcast about the character’s appearance before noting how he made sure to stay true to the character. In his words:
Certainly, from the creators of this current iteration of the story, it's a very different character. To me, it's a slightly different character. It's the same blowhard... the same guy with less hair. Honestly, I kind of wish he had the same hair, but the first time they asked me to do it, I assume it was a late notice decision on their parts to add Jameson because once they came and asked me to do it, sit down and have a meeting with all the bigwigs at Sony and talk about it, bang, bang, bang, the deals done, we’re shooting the day after tomorrow and no we don’t want you to have the flat top haircut… wait, what?
As J.K. Simmons shared to the podcast, when he returned for Far From Home, the actor met with the filmmakers and Sony just a couple days before shooting the Far From Home post-credit scene. Therefore, there wasn’t a lot of time for Simmons to grow out the haircut, or presumably give him a flat-top wig that would work. As the actor continued:
It was a negotiation then at that point. Obviously, the most important thing is that he's still the same blowhard and he does have the same damn mustache, close to it, and cigar at least. And as is appropriate for that character, he’s just a little comic relief that gets sprinkled lightly into the movie.
Simmons said that during the meeting they didn’t only want to ditch the original haircut, but they also didn’t care about leaving the mustache and cigar in the scene. The actor then negotiated with them, pointing out that those elements are very much part of the character.
In the latest No Way Home trailer, there’s a brief shot of J. Jonah Jameson in a hat and of course with that iconic mustache (pictured above). Check out the full trailer here:
The premise of Spider-Man: No Way Home is that after Mysterio outed Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to be Peter Parker, he’s been named a public enemy. In desperation, Peter goes to Doctor Strange to ask him for help through his magical powers. Strange comes up with a spell, but in casting it, somehow opens the multiverse. Numerous villains from other Spider-Man movies begin to come for this Spider-Man, leaving him outnumbered. Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17.
