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‘Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice’: Zack Snyder ‘Hid’ Iconic Comic Book Character In Blockbuster, Why Fans Could Be Livid

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 07:52 PST, Mar 26, 2016

Warning: There are some SPOILERS ahead regarding Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. So if you haven’t seen it, then you probably shouldn’t read ahead.

In the opening stages of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, we see Amy Adams’ Lois Lane captured by terrorists, who proceed to shot and murder her photographer and accomplice.

In the scene in question, the individual is portrayed as a CIA operative that is posing as a photographer during a trip to the Middle East. As Lois Lane starts her interview, the terrorists find a device hidden inside the camera, which exposes him as an agent, and then leads to him being killed.

We’re never actually given the name of the individual who is murdered, so viewers just assume that it’s a character that doesn’t have a relevance to the prestigious history of Superman and DC comics.

However, we’ve now learned that couldn’t be further from the truth, because the character, who was portrayed by Michael Cassidy in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, was actually Jimmy Olsen.

Zack Snyder has now been discussing his decision to use Jimmy Olsen in this manner, which sees the character never identified or referred to by name, before he then quickly exits the film.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Zack Snyder explained, “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?”

But why did Zack Snyder not reveal that Jimmy Olsen was in Batman V Superman? Well, he wanted to soften the blow of the character’s death; however, he did explain that in the upcoming R-rated “Ultimate Edition” of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Jimmy Olsen does reveal his identity.

“He comes up to her and he goes, ‘Lois Lane, I’m Jimmy Olsen, photographer, obviously… You know, I’ve been assigned to you for this mission.’ But is turns out that Jimmy Olsen is a spook for the CIA,” Zack Snyder explained.

Meanwhile, Zack Snyder explained that he originally approached Jesse Eisenberg to portray this small role of Jimmy Olsen, teasing that he wanted to shock the audience by surprisingly killing off someone audiences would think would be an integral character.

Snyder explained, “I thought, if it were Jesse Eisenberg and he got out and he goes, ‘I’m Jimmy Olsen,’ you’d be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna have Jimmy Olsen in the whole movie, right?’ And then if he got shot, you’d just be like, ‘What!? You can’t do that.'”

However, after they approached Jesse Eisenberg about the cameo, the director suddenly decided that he’d be perfect for Lex Luthor, even though they had previously been in discussions with Bryan Cranston about the part.

The character of Jimmy Olsen was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first made his appearance in Action Comics #6 all the way back in November 1938, while he was officially named as Jimmy Olsen in Superman #13 in November/December 1941.

The young photojournalist has worked extensively for the Daily Planet and is close friends with both Lois Lane and Clark Kent/Superman, as well as the editor of the Daily Planet, Perry White.

Meanwhile, when the character was finally adapted for the big-screen back in 1978 with Superman: The Movie, he was portrayed by Marc McClure. The actor went on to reprise the role in the three sequels that starred Christopher Reeve as Superman, while he also appeared in the 1984 spin-off film Supergirl. In 2006’s Superman Returns, which was directed by Bryan Singer, Jimmy Olsen was also portrayed by Sam Huntington.

[Image via Warner Bros.]

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