Spider-Man 4 Starts Shooting Next Year

Since the last Spider-Man movie hit theaters, J.K. Simmons has become much more of a star in his own right, moving beyond the iconic J.Jonah Jameson role to acclaimed parts in movies like Juno and Burn After Reading. But he'll be happy to return once Spider-Man 4 gets going, as he told MTV's Splash Page this week.

Simmons said the plan was for the movie to begin shooting next year, with an eye on a 2011 release. And there are no plans to make his character bigger, no matter how much more prominent the actor has become. "We’ve definitely brainstormed ideas for Triple-J, but I have no desire to make Triple-J more of the focus of those movies,” he said. "“The amount that I did in 1, 2 and 3, is just exactly right. Like be the wolf. Come in, blow in, do a week, blow out, be the comic relief, and hit the road. And let Tobey and everybody else do the heavy lifting.”

As wary as I am about the notion of a Spider-Man 4, Simmons' appearance is almost enough to make make me go along with it. Even if the rest of the movie is crumbling around him, you always know Simmons will be worth watching.