The Classic Jimmy Olsen Storyline Skyler Gisondo Wants To See In A Superman Sequel

In James Gunn's new film "Superman," Skyler Gisondo plays Jimmy Olsen, a junior reporter at the Daily Planet, and one of Clark Kent's charismatic co-workers. Jimmy is dazzlingly handsome and is depicted as the office stud, often drawing giggly, flirtatious looks from the women he works with. Gisondo plays Jimmy as a little clueless and certainly lacking guile. Jimmy also has a contact inside Lex Luthor's minions. It seems Lex (Nicholas Hoult) is now dating Eve Techmacher (Sara Simpaio), one of Jimmy's ex-flings. Eve wants to reconnect with Jimmy, and feeds him information in hopes that she'll get a date out of it. Jimmy rebuffs her advances, a little overwhelmed by her outsize personality. 

Jimmy Olsen is a long-standing supporting player within Superman lore, and he has shown up in just about every TV and film version of "Superman" to have come out in the last eight decades. Marc McClure played Jimmy in Richard Donner's 1978 "Superman," and was the only common actor between that film and 1984's "Supergirl." Michael Cassidy played the character in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Back in the 1950s, Jimmy even starred in his own comic book called "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen," a surreal title that often saw Jimmy embroiled in sitcom shenanigans; one time, Jimmy almost married an ape!

The new "Superman" film has been a hit, and sequels are inevitable. This means that Gisondo will have more opportunities to play Jimmy and, it is hoped, expand on his skills and personal adventures. Indeed, Gisondo recently spoke with Variety about playing Jimmy Olsen again, and he declared what he wanted for his character. Notably, he wanted Olsen, a photographer, to spend more time out in the field, proving his journalistic mettle. 

Most notably, Gidondo saw Jimmy Olsen as a man infused with professional integrity. Jimmy Olsen is typically seen — across all "Superman" media — in the office. We know he takes his job seriously, even if he is sometimes depicted as a slapstick character. Gisondo wanted to make sure that Jimmy Olsen had further opportunities, in whatever "Superman" sequels may be in the works, to express his own natural integrity. Jimmy is not a liar, a boob, or a trickster. He's scrupulously honest. Gisondo admired that, saying: 

"I would love to see more of Jimmy in the field. I would like to see him really in the thick of things. I would love to see him employ his powers. Clearly, there's a magnetism to him with women. More than anything in the world, Jimmy really cares about his job, it matters to him a lot, and he has a lot of journalistic integrity. It's why he's so pained with Eve — he's not lying when she's like, 'And we'll spend the weekend together.' [...] He will not lie to get a scoop."

Eve, it should be noted, does get her wish in James Gunn's "Superman." She helps Jimmy, and he agrees, even if it is mildly reluctantly, to spend the weekend with her. Gisondo, however, also wanted to see what happens when a ladies' man finally finds someone he wants to focus more of his attention on. He wants Jimmy to be made an honest man. Or, as he put it: 

"I would love to see Jimmy have to utilize those powers to get entrenched further in a story. I would like to see what it looks like when Jimmy does like somebody, when he does connect with somebody romantically and actually wants to pursue that." 

Which is a sweet thought. 

Gisondo is fully aware of 1950s-era Jimmy Olsen, and how the character is often depicted as wacky or comedic. Although Gidondo is a talented comedic actor, he doesn't want the 1950s version of Jimmy to make it to the big screen. If Gisondo sees Jimmy as a journalist above all, and one with a great deal of integrity at that, then he's going to want that on the big screen before Gunn starts using alien magic to transform him into an animal, or some equally silly thing. As Gisondo put it: 

"In the comics, there's some stuff where Jimmy turns into a turtle. There's all sorts of deviations. I would love to see Jimmy get over his head in a big way, and maybe even some version of Jimmy where he is grappling with some newfound metahuman powers. But more than anything else, I just want to see Jimmy in a situation where the stakes are very high and he needs to get a story." 

Which was something like what happened in the extant "Superman" movie. It will be Jimmy and Eve who end up breaking a big story that affects the plot of the movie. Gisondo wants more of that, please, only with the stakes raised even higher. And, yes, it would certainly be fun if Jimmy were somehow granted superpowers and temporarily became a vigilante in his own right. But only temporarily. Jimmy is more fun when he's human. 

"Superman" is the first in a planned series of interconnected superhero movies, overseen by Gunn (and his co-producer Peter Safran), and colloquially being referred to as the DCCU (DC Cinematic Universe). No sequels to "Superman" have yet been announced, but you can bet your sweet bippy that we'll see more, and in due time. Especially after "Superman" made so much money in its opening weekend. Also, Jimmy may even be getting his own TV series, so stand by.