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| “ | I don't like being shoved... And I don't believe in mob rule!! Let's see how much stomping you can do from a horizontal position. | „ |
| ~ Earth-One Jimmy Olsen. |
| “ | I'm Jimmy Olsen – photojournalist for the Metropolis Daily Planet – and this is where I shine. | „ |
| ~ New-Earth Jimmy Olsen. |
| “ | You can't act like this is normal, "Clark!" Like you're fine! Lois outed you as Superman! To the whole world! Even before that--you confided in me, man. You told me the truth! But now, here both of you are, like nothing ever happened! Even as Luthor claimed Superman was dead! Wearing his cape, no less! How am I supposed to believe you are who you say you are?! | „ |
| ~ New 52 Jimmy Olsen. |
James Bartholomew "Jimmy" Olsen is a supporting character in the DC Universe, specifically serving as one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Lois Lane) of the Superman franchise.
Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent/Superman, and has a good working relationship with his boss Perry White. Olsen looks up to his coworkers as role models and parent figures. While he remains a loyal ally to Superman, he is known for having a knack of getting into trouble.
He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first appeared in the radio serial The Adventures of Superman on April 15th, 1940, but first appeared in the comics in Superman #13 in November-December of 1941.
Overview[]
Jimmy works as a photographer for the Daily Planet, which is an excuse for him to accompany the intrepid reporters Lois and Clark in their adventures without being one himself. However, he tends to get into trouble often and sent on far more bizarre adventures than he seeks out. Likewise, he owned a supersonic wristwatch that he used to summon Superman whenever he wanted (only Superman could hear its buzzing).
Biography[]
Golden Age[]
During the Golden Age of comics (considered Earth-Two), Olsen became a close friend of Clark Kent, who managed to get him an advance in the Daily Star. As Jimmy aged, however, his health began to deteriorate and started to develop cancer, and Superman told Olsen that it's possible that he could meet his Earth-One counterpart to get blood. Meeting his Earth-One counterpart, Jimmy managed to regain his health.
Silver Age[]
On Earth-One, Olsen worked as a stock boy at the Daily Planet, but managed to earn himself a position there due to his eagerness and likeable nature. Becoming the newspaper's photographer, Jimmy befriended Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and his dream was become an investigate reporter like them. Jimmy also became an nuisance for the managing editor Perry White, whom he often begged to put him on field work, but White refused due to Jimmy being young and his lack of abilities. Jimmy would meet Superman and become a close ally of him, and would refer to himself as "Superman's Pal". Seeing that Jimmy would put himself in dangerous citizens as he volunteered on assignments, Superman gave Jimmy a signal watch to call the Man of Steel any time he needed assistance.
Jimmy would make a notable career as a reporter at the Planet, and would often be exposed to numerous situations where he would gain super powers. For a brief periods of time, Jimmy would use his superpowers until he returned to normal, but would gain the alias when having them, such as "Elastic Lad", "Wolf-Man", "Turtle Man", and "Flamebird". Later in his career as a reporter, Jimmy gained a great reputation, and Morgan Edge wanted rebrand Olsen as "Mister Action" for his heroics while reporting for the public. In addition, Jimmy became more self-confident that he didn't need to call Superman or Lois Lane for anything.
New Earth[]
James Bartholomew "Jimmy" Olsen was born in Yonkers, New York to Jake and Sarah Olsen, and his father was a military soldier who was declared missing before James was born. During his youth, Sarah was protective of her only son and worked a newsagent, and Jimmy would get early stories about Metropolis. Jimmy would mange to get an intern job at the Daily Planet during his junior year in high school, and would meet Clark Kent there, who was actually the superhero Superman. One day, Jimmy used electronic parts to create a hypersonic sound to attract Superman's attention to save his friend, and Olsen's plans was successful. Due to this, the signal watch was invented, and Jimmy used to signal in Superman when he needed assistance.
Jimmy slowly gained recognition from the Daily Planet, becoming a occasional photographer and reporter for them alongside Lois Lane. Jimmy also began to become a freelance photographer for the Newstime Magazine, which was a rival media company of the Daily Planet. When Superman was killed by Doomsday, Jimmy was one the who took the photo of Superman's ragged cape, which was used as a front piece by Newstime.
Prime Earth[]
On Prime Earth, the Olsen family were wealthy and were related to the Luthor, making Jimmy a distant cousin to Lex and Lena Luthor. Jimmy and his siblings, Julien and Janie were able to live a wealthy life, but Jimmy decided to work as a cub reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Jimmy would befriend Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and worked with the former on getting scoop on the new superhero who entitled himself as "Superman". Olsen was later informed that his parents were declared dead and was given a large portion of their fortune, but Jimmy was convinced that his parents disappeared to avoid prosecution.
Personality[]
TBA
Portrayals[]
Films[]
- In the 1948 Superman serial, he was portrayed by the late Tommy Bond.
- In the original Christopher Reeve films, he was portrayed by Marc McClure.
- In Superman Returns, he was portrayed by Sam Huntington.
- In Superman: Doomsday, he was voiced Adam Wylie.
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, he was voiced by Richard Green.
- In All-Star Superman, he was voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler, who also voiced Simon Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks live-action movies.
- In Superman: Unbound, he was voiced by Alexander Gould.
- In Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was portrayed by Michael Cassidy.
- In Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, he was voiced by Eric Bauza.
- In Superman: Red Son, he was voiced by Phil Morris.
- In the upcoming film Superman (2025), Jimmy will be portrayed by Skyler Gisondo. Who also played Nick Daley in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, young Shawn Spencer in Psych, young Kyle Reese in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and voiced B-Dawg in the Air Buddies films. The film is intended to be the first installment of the new DCU (DC Universe) film series produced by James Gunn.
Television[]
- In Adventures of Superman, he was voiced by the late Jack Larson.
- In the 1988 Superman animated series, he was voiced by Mark L. Taylor.
- In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, he was portrayed by Michael Landes in the first season and Justin Whalin for the rest of the series.
- In the DC Animated Universe, he was voiced by David Kaufman.
- Kaufman reprised his voice for the character in Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Justice League: Doom, and Superman vs. the Elite.
- In Smallville, he was portrayed by Aaron Ashmore.
- In The Batman, he was voiced by Jack DeSena.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, he was voiced by Alexander Polinsky.
- In DC Nation Shorts, he was voiced by Elisha Yaffe.
- In Supergirl, he is portrayed by Mehcad Brooks.
- In Justice League Action, he was voiced by Max Mittelman.
- Mittelman reprised his voice for the character in The Death of Superman and Lego DC Super Villains.
Video Games[]
- In DC Universe Online, he was voiced by Brandon Young.
Radio[]
- In the radio serials, he was voiced by the late Jack Kelk and the late Jack Grimes.
- Grimes reprised his voice for the character in The New Adventures of Superman.
Gallery[]
Images[]
External Links[]
- Jimmy Olsen on the DC Wiki
[]
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