#J.K. Simmons Had to Fight to Keep J. Jonah Jameson’s Mustache in Spider-Man: No Way Home

“#J.K. Simmons Had to Fight to Keep J. Jonah Jameson’s Mustache in Spider-Man: No Way Home”

Marvel wanted to redesign J. Jonah Jameson for Spider-Man: No Way Home, but J.K. Simmons refused to have him shave the iconic mustache.

Can you imagine J. Jonah Jameson without his trademark mustache? It’s certainly not easy, but the powers that be at Marvel Studios were leaning that direction when bringing in the character to the MCU. Previously, J.K. Simmons played the role of JJJ in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and he plays a new incarnation of the Daily Bugle editor in Spider-Man: No Way Home. A peek at the character is shown in the recent second trailer, and while he’s now bald on top with the flat top long gone, he retained his familiar facial hair.

Simmons appeared as a guest on a recent episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy, Sad, Confused podcast. He spoke about what brought him back to the Spider-Man franchise, revealing that he was brought in at essentially the last minute, shooting his scenes almost immediately after getting the call. Before the cameras started rolling, however, Simmons was told about the changes they had in mind for this J. Jonah Jameson, wanting to remove both the flat top and the mustache.

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“[They said] ‘No, we don’t want you to have the flat-top haircut,’ and I was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait. What?’ 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.”

Perhaps the biggest reason Marvel Studios was looking for a redesign was to help demonstrate to viewers that this is not the same J. Jonah Jameson that was featured in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. While it’s the same actor in the role, it’s technically a new character that exists in a different universe. With this in mind, it makes sense to enforce some changes, but at the end of the day, Simmons just can’t see JJJ ever getting rid of his familiar facial hair, even if it’s a different version of the irate editor from an alternate universe.

“[It’s a] slightly different version… Certainly, from the creators of this 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.”

This isn’t the only superhero franchise role that J.K. Simmons is on board to reprise. He’s also confirmed that he will be back as Commissioner James Gordon in the upcoming Batgirl movie at HBO Max. This comes after he previously debuted in the DCEU in Justice League and teased his desire to one day revisit that character. It also sounds like his role will be substantial as the father of Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon. Shooting on that project will start in January.

Meanwhile, Simmons will also be seen as original I Love Lucy star William Frawley in Aaron Sorkin’s Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz biopic, Being the Ricardos. From Amazon Studios, the movie is set to be released on Dec. 10. One week later, Simmons can be seen in his return as J. Jonah Jameson when the anticipated sequel Spider-Man: No Way Home is released on Dec. 17. You can listen to the full interview with J.K. Simmons on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast.