To many Superman fans, Jimmy Olsen is the young, enthusiastic photographer who works for the Daily Planet. Debuting in Action Comics #6 in 1938, he has since appeared in a variety of Superman media, including 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Now, director Zack Snyder has shed light on his decision to radically change the character for the film, including killing him off so early.
"I just liked the idea that Jimmy was a spook for the CIA. I always felt like Jimmy, you know, never was capable, that capable, and to see him be like speak a foreign language," Snyder said during a live commentary of the film. "People always ask me if he's dead, do we see him again, does he come back to life. I don't think so. It implies a bigger universe. It implies that these dominos are falling as we go forward."
In the film, Jimmy accompanies Lois Lane to Africa while she interviews a war criminal, and after a tracker is found in his camera, it's revealed Jimmy is not a photographer at all; he is actually a CIA operative. Lois then watches in fear and shock as Jimmy is executed before her eyes.
While this is certainly a unique twist, some fans are understandably upset the character won't return to the DC Extended Universe. That said, he currently lives on in the pages of the decidedly less dark DC series Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber.
(via ComicBook.com)