The news that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 had been cancelled devastated comic book fans, but no one was more upset than JK Simmons. Simmons – who played irascible editor of The Daily Bugle J Jonah Jameson – recently revealed during a red carpet interview with The Hollywood Reporter how he felt when he heard the news.
“After Sam Raimi’s trilogy and they moved on, it was heartbreaking, I’m not going to lie,” he explained. Of course, we all know now that Spider-Man 3 wouldn’t be the last time Simmons grew Jameson’s trademark moustache. The character made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut at the end of Far From Home, where he revealed Peter Parker’s secret identity to the world and Simmons was delighted to reprise the role.
“When they came back a few years ago saying they wanted to revive that gasbag of a character, I was thrilled,” he continued. “It was just a question of adapting him a little bit for 2020 or 2019, whenever the movie came out. Really to me, he’s the same blowhard just instead of running a newspaper, he runs a news empire.
Simmons return to the Spider-Man may have come as a surprise to fans, but it precipitated the return of other old Spider-Man characters. The new MCU Spider-Man movie, No Way Home will see a host of deadly foes return to battle the Wallcrawler.
J.K. Simmons admits he found it “heartbreaking” when the Sam Raimi #SpiderMan films ended.
He says he is “thrilled” to return to the role of J. Jonah Jameson in #SpiderManNoWayHome and shares new details on the character pic.twitter.com/k0elrV22LV
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 7, 2021
The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Electro have got the most focus so far, but Sandman and The Lizard are also back for more. Unlike Jameson, though, these aren’t MCU versions of the villain; these are literally the characters from Raimi’s trilogy and the Amazing Spider-Man movies.
We’re not sure how the villains arrived, but the trailer hints it’s got something to do with Doctor Strange’s attempt to erase everyone’s memory of Spider-Man’s secret identity.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is part of Marvel’s Phase 4 and swings into theatres on December 15. If you love Spidey and his amazing friends, be sure to check out our guide on Doctor Strange 2, or if you prefer your heroes a bit ‘wetter’, we have a feature on everything you need to know about Aquaman 2.