MAN OF STEEL is being proclaimed as a completely revised take on Superman that we have never seen in a film before. Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan have been saying since day one that this is a Superman that exists in a modern, real world, not the retro-1950s world of the Richard Donner films. We already know that Superman is not welcomed by humanity with open arms and that he deals with fear from people. We also know that Perry White is now African American and Lois Lane is a ginger. But, could there be another big swap we didn’t know about?
To date, we have not heard a peep about Jimmy Olsen in MAN OF STEEL. I assumed his character had been left out or reduced to a minor role. But, there may be something else to it. The intrepid folks over at ComicBookMovie have stumbled across a credit on the IMDb page for MAN OF STEEL listed actress Rebecca Buller as “Jenny Olsen”. Now, this could be a random character name, but that would be incredibly coincidental for a movie like this. If you look at the image of Buller above compared to the trailer shot of Laurence Fishburne running from destruction in Metropolis, that looks like the same person. So, a character named Olsen running with Perry White? I am leaning towards Jimmy Olsen has become a woman.
I personally do not have any issue with a change like this. Whether Jimmy or Jenny, the character can accomplish the same purpose of comic relief. In the end, does this fly in the face of DC canon? Yes, but it may not be a detriment to the overall story.
We will find out when MAN OF STEEL opens in theaters on June 14, 2013.