Superman 2025: Jimmy Olsen and the Many Media of the Man of Steel

Superman 2025's Jimmy Olsen, Skyler Gisondo

On August 25th, writer and director of Superman, James Gunn, celebrated the creation of James Bartholomew Olsen with a picture of actor Skyler Gisondo in costume, playing Superman's Pal.  He also included an image that is very, very early Jimmy Olsen, written by Siegel, drawn by Shuster.  

Jimmy really existed as a background character, mostly nameless, at the Daily Star and Planet (so I don't really know how they came up with the specific "first appearance" but whatever).  It would be the radio show that pushed Jimmy as a featured player in Superman's world.  

Actor Jackie Kelk would provide the first voice for Jimmy, making sure that Clark/ Superman would have a conversationalist who wasn't his boss or Lois.  On the show, Jimmy cemented his role as the eager kid on the learning curve who, like Lois, was constantly stumbling into danger.  

Tommy Bond played Jimmy in the original serials, but the one who kind of *made* Jimmy was Jack Larson.  His Jimmy was an eternal 18 year old who acted 10, making the bow tie and a sweater vest or jacket his signature look  - something Jimmy still sports these days as a sort of hipster.  

The character was so popular with kids, we wound up with a comic series that ran for 20 years, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen.  And if you want to see how a comic book series can change drastically over two decades, check in with that comic and Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane.  (Especially Lois Lane, to see the changes in attitudes about women and their place in culture and the newsroom.)  

And, so, it's been since the earliest days of Superman existing across multiple media that the comics are not the only way to tell these stories, and new ideas from the cartoons, movies, radio, TV shows and video games are perfectly great to bring into the comics, just as much as we hope they bring the comics to the big screen.  Kryptonite originated on the radio show, too.  Flying happened in the cartoons in the 1940's.  

Of course, Jimmy appeared in the 4 Christopher Reeve starring films, played by Marc McClure.  McClure would also appear as the sole member of the Superman movie cast in Supergirl.  And, he was in Superman Returns, played by Sam Huntington (who did a great job).  

On Lois and Clark, Jimmy was played by two different actors, Justin Whalin and Michael Landes.  Jimmy was a major character on the 6-season show, Supergirl (Mehcad Brooks), and the character appeared in a sort of oddball form on Smallville (Aaron Ashmore).  

Currently, Jimmy is appearing as a main character on My Adventures with Superman, and has been a key character in a few animated versions of Superman (maybe hitting his peak in Batman: The Brave and the Bold).   

And, y'all, I could keep going, but I'll be merciful.

Jimmy as envisioned by Steve Lieber

One of my favorite DC Comics of the past decade was Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber.  The series better understood, through Jimmy, DC Comics' legacy and history better than almost anything else not All Star Superman or Mark Waid-penned in 30 years.  And, Jimmy continues to appear in and is currently a big part of the mainline Superman books, which isn't always the case.  A lot of creators don't get Jimmy or don't understand the appeal.  

You may note, the flaccid Snyder-verse movies only included a sort of stand-in for Jimmy in a brunette nobody remembers from Man of Steel, and then a CIA agent who gets murdered in the first minutes of Batman v Superman.  

And I'll always argue - if you don't get Jimmy Olsen (and - especially - if you don't get Lois), your take on Superman is a guy in a Super suit who is fulfilling some other story that is only kinda Superman - it is not a whole hearted attempt to bring Superman to the screen or page.  Superman isn't a guy who is a loner - he, in fact, goes to work every day in street clothes and pals around with the office crew and goes on assignment with them.  He has a little-bro (Jimmy), he has a girlfriend (Lois), he has a boss (Perry).  He even has a would-be bully (Steve Lombard) and a flirt (Cat Grant).  And, the all-business reporter guy (Ron).  He's happy to be among normal people, and treats other superheroes as colleagues who might grab lunch.  

And, I think, appreciating Jimmy in particular, as someone that Superman likes and likes being around - in all his over-enthusiastic goofiness, and how Superman is a fan of all that - is kinda important.  Superman wants to hang around with you, fellow Super-reader.

There's also the matter of legacy cameos in Superman TV and movies, and that's something I wish I knew was going to happen in the coming films.  Richard Donner put the original Lois and Superman in his Superman: The Movie, finding Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill, who played the part in the serials (although they didn't make the theatrical cut for reasons I cannot begin to fathom - they get their due in the Donner Cut). 

Superman Returns saw Neill appear, and Jack Larson as bartender "Bibbo".  Smallville was generous with it's cameos and guest spots, as was Supergirl (which has the masterstroke of casting Jon Cryer from Superman IV as Lex, and then he killed it as Lex).  It's my opinion, it'd be nice to see some of those Jimmy's show up.  Maybe a Lois or three.  You can have an all-new Superman movie and still wink to the past - it's why we're here, after all.

Jimmy, as a character, is a lot of fun.  I always like him best as the over-energetic young man who is trying so hard, but he's us - and sometimes it goes really poorly.  And he is sort of the avatar for how weird Superman comics can be.  Superman reacts to everything in stride - as much as possible and to varying degrees depending on the era/ creative team.  Jimmy, meanwhile, gets turned into Elastic Lad or Porcupine Boy and, shit, that's his week, and he's so mad it's going to ruin his date with Lucy Lane.

Good stuff.  But even if you don't do that, he's still an enthusiastic kid who is trying to take pictures of the madness in Metropolis.  

I've only seen Skyler Gisondo in a couple of things, but based on his work in The Righteous Gemstones, I think this is out-of-the-ballpark casting.  I try to be open minded, because I think you can change Jimmy and recast him a lot of ways - cool and handsome underwear model Mehcad Brooks was a choice, for example.  Like a lot of things with this movie, it looks like they went back to the comics and aren't rethinking Jimmy as a hacker or punk or whatever the hell you might do to appeal to the kids.  Jimmy is not cool.  Jimmy is so not cool, he's awesome.  And while I suspect Skyler is super cool in real life, he can play what I think the movie needs.  I'm looking forward to it.

Anyway - here's a belated Happy Birthday for Jimmy.  

it is not an official Jimmy Olsen discussion til you post Turtle Boy