Columbia Pictures’ upcoming Spider Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield as the titular hero is in the market for a new J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson, played to perfection by J.K. Simmons in the Sam Raimi films, is the high strung publisher of The Daily Bugle who delights in making Spider Man look bad at every opportunity. So far, there are two actors that have been discussed as possible successors to Simmons: John Slattery (Howard Stark in Iron Man 2) and Sam Elliot (the narrator in The Big Lebowski as well as the lead in countless Westerns). [Gordon and The Whale]
Even though the franchise is going with a new direction, I grew up on the original Spider Man trilogy and in my heart, no one’s ever going to replace J.K. Simmons. He was just so perfect in the role that it’s hard to see anyone else donning the mustache and crew cut. If Slattery or Elliot is destined for the role, I’m pulling for Elliot on mustache alone. Seriously, the thing should have its own fan club.
Here’s the current known cast list for Spider Man, which releases July 2012 and will be directed by Marc Webb:
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider Man
Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard
Who do you think could play J. Jonah Jameson in the new Spider Man reboot, or do you think they should just suck it up and bring Simmons back?