J.K. Simmons Wants to Explore Jim Gordon’s “Badass” Side in JUSTICE LEAGUE and Beyond

J.K. Simmons has been filming for his role as Commissioner Gordon in next year’s Justice League. He has to make one final trip to London, and he will be finished. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor – who has been getting insanely ripped lately – discusses his experience with the film, as well as what he wants to bring to the character.

Simmons says that he has had a “fun” experience shooting Justice League, and he reaffirms that “…if it continues, then I’ll hopefully get to play Commissioner Gordon in a handful of movies.” Gordon is expected to appear in Ben Affleck’s Batman film, for example.

Regarding what he wants to bring to the Gordon role, Simmons reveals that he wants to explore the character’s “badass” side. “People of my generation remember Commissioner Gordon as this jolly, ineffectual Santa Claus type, and I think over the years in the comics there’s definitely much more of a badass side to him. One of the things that’s interesting to me is investigating hopefully a little bit more of that badass [side].”

Simmons’ Gordon lives in a world populated by superheroes such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League members. How will the commissioner hold his own in this universe? “You’re living in a universe where it’s pretty tough to be a badass compared to somebody like Batman,” says Simmons. “…but in the universe of non-superheroes, I like the idea of Commissioner Gordon as a guy that can take care of himself, a guy that’s a real partner to Batman, not just a guy that turns on the bat signal and goes, ‘Help! Help, Batman!'”

For EW’s full interview with Simmons, where he discusses his work on Kung Fu Panda 3, The Accountant and more, click HERE.

Justice League is scheduled to hit theaters November 17th, 2017. The fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amber Heard, Joe Morton, Willem Dafoe, Jeremy Irons, Jesse Eisenberg and J.K. Simmons. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio.