This post contains plot points from Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, so if you haven’t seen the film and care about spoilers, turn back now.
Superman and Batman are awfully broody in Batman v Superman, but maybe things would have been less grim for them had they been joined by their trusty sidekicks onscreen. While Batman is dealing with the loss of Robin in the film, it doesn’t look like Superman’s, or rather Clark Kent’s, trusty photographer pal, Jimmy Olsen, would make it into Zack Snyder’s vision of Metropolis. Or so we thought.
Again, spoilers.
Actually, Olsen was played by actor Michael Cassidy, known from stints on The O.C. and Smallville, and was the unnamed photographer who travelled with Lois Lane to Africa to interview a warlord. Unfortunately for him, he was revealed to be a CIA plant and is gruesomely shot in the head. Yikes.
Snyder spoke with Entertainment Weekly about his decision to off the fan favorite without much ado:
“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?”
If shooting beloved characters in the head is Zack Snyder’s idea of fun, I hope we never end up at the same party (we won’t). According to Snyder, he decided not to provide the character’s name to lessen the pain for the audience, but that the “Ultimate Edition” includes a more lengthy introduction.
“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 it turns out that Jimmy Olsen is a spook for the CIA.”
Also, depending on your take on Batman v Superman, the interview also could add salt to the wound left by Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Snyder originally auditioned Eisenberg to be Jimmy Olsen (a more obvious choice than Luthor), but decided to take the film in a different direction with a whiny millennial Lex. Who else were they interviewing for the historically bald baddie? Well, the usual suspects, including Bryan Cranston.
“Bryan Cranston would have been great, right? And by the way, he’s an amazing actor. Can you imagine how different the movie would be?”
How different indeed. Try not to let that knowledge ruin your viewing experiences this weekend.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
