The latest superhero movie, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, was the No. 1 movie at the box office last weekend, despite poor reviews (currently 29% on Rotten Tomatoes) and fan backlash. Fans flocked to theaters to see two of comics greatest heroes duke it out on the big screen, and left disappointed when a jar full of urine and YouTube-ish videos of The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) were just as important as Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) fighting.
If you were one of the millions who sat through this two-and-a-half-hour tale of death and destruction that also introduced Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Superman arch-villain Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) to the DC Comics cinematic universe, you may have missed the introduction of another seminal Superman character, Jimmy Olsen.
Who was Jimmy, you ask? Remember the photographer (Michael Cassidy) who is with Lois Lane as she attempts to interview terrorists in Africa? The one who is found out to be working for the CIA, and is shot in the face point blank when this discovery is made? That was Jimmy Olsen. Yes, “Superman’s Pal” is brutally executed, in front of Lois. Not for being best buds with Superman, but for planting a tracking device in his camera.
For those wondering why this is sort of a big deal, you should know that Jimmy has been a fan favorite in the Superman universe for over 70 years. He had his own comic book, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, that ran for 20 years from 1954-74, has appeared in every TV show about Superman from The Adventures of Superman in the 50’s to the more recent Smallville, and (minus Man of Steel) appeared in every Superman movie since 1978’s Superman, even the 1984 stinker, Supergirl.
When asked if the photographer was indeed Jimmy Olsen (the character’s name is never said in the movie), Batman v. Superman director Zack Snyder confirmed his identity, telling Entertainment Weekly:
“We just did it as this little aside because we had been tracking where we thought the movies were gonna go, and we don’t have room for Jimmy Olsen in our big pantheon of characters, but we can have fun with him, right?”
“Fun.” That’s how Snyder explains Jimmy Olsen’s appearance, the one where he is killed moments after appearing on-screen. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched any of Snyder’s films. He would think that the brutal murder of an important character is fun, based on a filmography that includes Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Watchmen. Movies full of violence, death, and gore. Movies that made him an odd choice to handle a character like Superman from the start.
This isn’t a screed against movies having destruction and gore, but if someone asked 100 Americans to describe Superman, very few would say death or murder. A meme from Cracked sums up perfectly the difference between comic-book Superman (from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s masterpiece All-Star Superman) and movie Superman:
Almost nothing about either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman could be considered fun, but if Snyder wanted to make either even remotely enjoyable, we would need Superman/Clark Kent to actually have lasting relationships with people outside of Lois and his parents.
Having Clark and Jimmy team up on the football player story that Daily Planet editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) seems hellbent on having him cover could have added a missing layer to the character. This would mean Clark would actually have to attempt to cover the story, but it also would have allowed Jimmy to have the same amount of screen time without getting shot in the head. And Clark would have found out directly that Superman has at least one staunch supporter besides Lois.
Fans don’t need Jimmy Olsen to become a critical part of these movies, but he is important enough in the Superman mythology that he needs to be alive. He is Superman’s connection to humanity in the comics, something that is sorely lacking with the current movie incarnation. Jimmy Olsen deserved more than to be another reason for Snyder to kill someone. He deserved to be a part of the DC movie universe, even if he never shows up on-screen again.
