Stan Lee Wasn’t Happy He Lost Beloved Spider-Man Role
Regardless of which movie version of Spider-Man you prefer, one thing most fans can agree on is that J.K. Simmons was perfectly cast in the role of J. Jonah Jameson. So much so that even after the Raimi movies, Simmons was brought back to reprise the role for the Tom Holland films as well as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. However, evidently, Stan Lee had been hopeful that he might get the role of J. Jonah Jameson.
Stan Lee Wanted To Be J. Jonah Jameson
Before passing away in 2018 at the age of 95, Stan Lee had cameos in just about every Marvel movie that was released. It was a beloved tradition among fans to wait for the chance to spot his appearance in the latest Marvel movie. But according to J.K. Simmons, Stan Lee really wanted an opportunity to do something more substantial by getting to take on the role of J. Jonah Jameson himself.
Talking about how he learned of Stan Lee wanting the J. Jonah Jameson role, J.K. Simmons said, “I had never met Stan and didn’t even know, and this is kind of obvious to anybody who’s really paying attention or smarter than I am, that JJJ was kind of based on Stan. You know, comic version of himself. He confessed to me at the time that he was a little jealous that they didn’t ask him to play the part in the movie.”
Even Stan Knew J.K. Simmons Was Born For The Role
While Stan Lee has done plenty of cameos over the years, he has never done any substantial acting roles, so perhaps that is why Sam Raimi did not consider him for J. Jonah Jameson. Lee was also beloved by fans for how kind and wholesome he was, so perhaps Raimi doubted his ability to play a character as loud and irritable as Jameson is known to be. However, Simmons also shared that Stan Lee made it clear he had no hard feelings over losing out on the part.
“‘But having seen you do it, I thought you were fantastic,’” Simmons said Lee later told him. “And it was very, very nice things, which obviously coming from the man was a great, great compliment.” So while Stan Lee may have been disappointed he did not get to play the part, it sounds like he concedes that J.K. Simmons was the right actor to play J. Jonah Jameson.
Decades Of Cameos
Stan Lee’s last direct cameo perhaps fittingly happened in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, with him being posthumously de-aged for an appearance. However, fans might not have realized he has also been included in creative ways in more recent Marvel films, including the recent Deadpool & Wolverine where his face appears on an ad for “Stanlee Steamers”. So even if Stan Lee did not get to play J. Jonah Jameson, he is still fondly remembered and included.
No Studio Said No To Stan
Of interesting note is that Stan Lee is technically the first crossover actor between Marvel films while they were still split between different studios. He appeared in Sony’s 2002 Spider-Man, Fox’s 2000 X-Men, and the MCU’s 2008 Iron Man. While Stan Lee getting to play J. Jonah Jameson could have been fun, even with just his cameos, it is encouraging to see all the rival studios respected him enough to not try to prohibit him from supporting all of the Marvel projects.
Simmons Is Still Bringing Jameson to Life
As for J.K. Simmons, with him still getting called to play Jameson as recently as 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it looks like the role might be his in Spider-Man films for as long as he wants it. And it has to feel good for Simmons to know that he earned the approval of Stan Lee to play J. Jonah Jameson and bring that character to life.
Source: GQ
