- Production of Marvel movies and TV series are paused, just like everything else in the entertainment industry.
- As economies reopen, one of the actors who appeared in one of the most controversial post-credits scenes of the MCU so far confirmed that it wasn’t the end of this exciting storyline.
- The actor will appear in two additional movies and has already shot his next scenes for an undisclosed movie or TV series.
The novel coronavirus has ruined going to the movies for the foreseeable future. As economies reopen, theater chains will open their doors as well, but not everyone will feel safe going to cinemas until COVID-19 can be contained. Indoor settings and large crowds favor transmission, and that’s the kind of risk that comes with watching a film in a theater right now. On top of that, studios were forced to postpone their summer blockbusters and delay the production of new releases as the world locked down. As we’ve explained before, Marvel suffered more than other studios because all of its projects are interconnected. Any launch delay or production hiatus of one production will impact the entire series of releases. COVID-19 forced Marvel to delay the start of MCU Phase 4 by 6 months, with Black Widow now expected to premiere in early November.
Some countries and US states have now started to reopen, and they’re welcoming back crews to resume shooting. We’ve already heard various rumblings about several Marvel movies and TV shows that are about to resume production. But one of the most exciting new Marvel rumors comes from an unexpected source. The actor who shot one of the most controversial MCU cameos so far has already filmed scenes for another appearance in an undisclosed project. Considering where we’re at right now, it could very well be a Phase 4 title.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is exactly what we needed after Avengers: Endgame, a much lighter Marvel adventure that would give us time to prepare for the next phase and heal our wounds. There’s no question Tony Stark cast a long shadow over Peter Parker, but the movie was a lot easier to digest than the Endgame. Far From Home is also a lot less fun to watch than Endgame, and I’ve already explained some of the issues that I have with the plot.
What saves the film in my book is the action after the credits. The two credits scenes in Far From Home don’t just set up part of the MCU Phase 4 story — they also tease a Spider-Man film unlike anything we saw from Sony in the past 20 years. Sony rebooted Spider-Man three times, including the MCU partnership with Disney. And all of them generally told the same Peter Parker origin story. Marvel made it a lot better by adding Spider-Man to the Avengers and making Peter part of a much bigger story.
Spider-Man 3 will be the first Spider-Man film to offer us a version of Spidey whose identity isn’t secret anymore. Everyone knows who Peter really is, and that’s because of a particular character who appeared in one of the two credits scenes at the very end.
That’s J. Jonah Jameson, of course, played by the same J.K. Simmons who appeared many years ago in a different version of Sony’s Spider-Man. What makes the cameo so extraordinary is Jameson’s makeover. The character has been adapted to modern times when it comes to the world’s he uses and the perception of the media. Jameson appears to be a fringe character, hosting his own TV show and peddling all sorts of questionable theories in the age of fake news. It’s Jameson who tells the world Spider-Man is a criminal, and it’s Jameson who shows us his real face. We know his accusations aren’t true, but Peter might have a hard time proving his innocence.
Simmons is great in the role and we certainly want to see more of this version of Jameson in the Marvel universe. Sony seemed to hint months ago that Jameson will continue to have a presence in the Spider-Man world when it created a mock website for The Daily Bugle, which is still up and running.
But it’s actually Simmons who confirmed he has already shot new scenes for Marvel as Simmons. The actor appeared on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, via Collider, where he confirmed as much and added that a third appearance is also planned:
Well yeah, [I’ll be back as J. Jonah Jameson] that’s the short answer. There is a future for J. Jonah Jameson after a several-year hiatus. He showed up very briefly for those who were wise enough to stay through the credits of Far From Home… There is one more JJJ appearance in the can, and from what I’m hearing there’s a plan for yet another. So hopefully JJJ will continue now and forever.
We obviously expect Jameson to be one of the prominent characters of Spider-Man 3, and he could very well appear in Sony’s own universe of Spider-Man adventures. That said, it’s unclear what sort of scene Simmons shot, and it’s unlikely that he’ll ever share more details.
What we do know is that Spider-Man 3 was pushed back as well, and shooting hasn’t even started on the project. Recent rumors said that Sony is scrambling to shoot Tom Holland’s scenes for Uncharted and Spider-Man 3 back to back to make the most of the upcoming filming season. That’s because there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 at this point, and plans may quickly change for any sort of business, especially movies.
The fact that Simmons shot his second Jameson appearance since the Sam Raimi pictures indicates that he may appear in one of the upcoming MCU films or TV series that should have premiered this year. The list includes Black Widow, The Eternals, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki. He could also pop up in Morbius or the upcoming Venom sequel. Both of them are Sony films from the Spider-Man universe that will be connected to the Spider-Man films from the MCU.
