With the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel Studios kicked off a new phase in the franchise’s future while also recognizing an important figure from the past. Many fans were stunned when one of the post-credits scenes from the film re-introduced a key character from Spider-Man lore, giving him an updated role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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It’s a somewhat controversial decision, but writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna thought it was the best way to tackle the infamous character for the new Spider-Man series of films.
Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home below.
At the end of the film, Mysterio reveals one last deception even in death as he outs Spider-Man’s identity to the world — but it’s how he does it that has everyone talking, as he leaked the video to a controversial website called The Daily Bugle, with the cantankerous editor J. Jonah Jameson delivering the news.
J.K. Simmons reprised the role for the new movie, making him the only actor to play the same character in two different Marvel franchises.
Sommers and McKenna opened up on this decision with Variety, revealing why they decided to include it.
“I had never seen the original Spider-Man movies and I pitched him and everyone said, ‘No… We can’t do that!’ I’m still waiting for Sony to get me my free copies, but they never gave me the free copies,” McKenna joked. “Once we realized that news would play a huge part particularly in the undergirding of the movie in terms of facts and fantasy, facts and fiction, then we played around with the idea that Mysterio would be pulling one con at the end. It became clear that it would be a perfect entree for J. Jonah Jameson. And then we were thinking, ‘How do you top J.K. Simmons?’ And you know how you top J.K. Simmons? You get J.K. Simmons.”
Added Sommers, “That idea had a lot of traction early on in the process. We always hoped that it would be him. And then the decision was, in what form? Was he going to be like he was before? We decided that maybe a better reflection of how things have changed, how media has changed, would be instead he’s more of this Alex Jones figure now. That was the big decision.”
Fans can see Jameson’s return in Spider-Man: Far From Home, now playing in theaters.
