'Superman' Director James Gunn Gives First Official Look At Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen
See the 'Santa Clarita Diet' actor as Superman’s best pal. Happy anniversary Jimmy
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has very frequently commemorated the debut anniversaries of the company’s characters that he has had his hands the deepest in, namely The Suicide Squad, its spinoff Peacemaker, and this December’s Creature Commandos animated series, but also for his Superman movie he’s writing and directing. Just this month saw the anniversaries of ARGUS head Amanda Waller and the initial Commandos, but it was marking the August 25 formal anniversary of Superman’s best pal, Jimmy Olsen.
While Olsen debuted as a named character in The Adventures of Superman on radio and was retroactively revealed to be the “office boy” at The Daily Planet that made appearances as early as 1938, August 25, 1941 is considered his anniversary of his formally printed name. Gunn wrote “Happy Anniversary to Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen, who debuted on this day in 1941 (although he did appear earlier as “office boy” in Action Comics 6). Created by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster & Bob Maxwell. I can’t wait for you to see SkylerGisondo’s portrayal in #Superman on July 11, 2025.” Four images accompanied the post, led by an image of Gisondo in the role, the first image released by involved official parties of such. Gisondo is best known for his television roles as Eric Bemis on Santa Clarita Diet and Gideon Gemstone on The Righteous Gemstones, and film roles like Jared in Booksmart and Lance Brannigan in Licorice Pizza. He’s been acting since a very young age, playing the younger version of James Roday (Rodriguez)’s Shawn in 10 episodes of Psych, voicing B-Dawg in the Air Buddies movies and appearing in comedies like Walk Hard, Four Christmases and The Three Stooges, before appearing as Gwen Stacy’s brother Howard in the The Amazing Spider-Man films.
The Olsen character would eventually be solidified as the Planet’s photographer, usually though not always, on the same level of professional experience as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, who in next year’s film are played by David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan. The character’s previous actors include Jack Larson, Marc McClure, Michael Landes, Justin Whalin, Aaron Ashmore, Sam Huntington, Mehcad Brooks, and what will be previous by the film’s release, Douglas Smith. Voice actors include David Kaufman, Max Mittelman and Ishmel Sahid. Gunn has also used previous debut anniversary commemorations to make news, such as confirming the casting of Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince as Martha and Jonathan Kent, Clark’s adoptive Earth parents he affectionately calls Ma and Pa, back in May.
Superman completed filming at the end of July, an occasion for which Gunn wrote “And that’s a wrap. God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life.” He continued, “I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful.”
Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen works at a Daily Planet with Wendell Pierce as boss Perry White, with Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant and Christopher MacDonald as Ron Troupe also on staff. Superman’s hero alies include Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho aka Rex Mason. There’s also Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, María Gabriela De Faría as Angela Spica, The Engineer, Terence Rosemore as Otis, and Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher with Milly Alcock likelier and likelier to debut as Supergirl here. As Gunn reminded, Superman releases on July 11, 2025.
Source: James Gunn