A fun fan theory about Superman’s Jimmy Olsen makes a lot of sense

James Gunn’s “Superman” is packed with characters, and the Daily Planet newsroom is no different. The Metropolis newspaper will star Rachel Brosnahan as reporter and Clark Kent’s love interest, Lois Lane, while “The Wire’s” Wendell Pierce will play editor-in-chief Perry White. We’ll also see Beck Bennet as sports reporter Steve Lombard and Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, but surely one of the most intriguing characters is Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen.

Gisondo (“Santa Clarita Diet,” “The Righteous Gemstones”) will play the rookie reporter in what will likely be one of the character’s most notable appearances on the big screen in a long time. Because? Because Zack Snyder decided it was better to take this beloved “Superman” character and turn him into a CIA agent (played by Michael Cassidy) who dies almost immediately in “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.” After that unceremonious appearance in the DC Extended Universe, Jimmy will return, played by Gisondo, in Gunn’s version of the Man of Steel, and hopefully he will last a little longer than Cassidy’s version.

After wrapping filming in late July, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for “Superman,” introducing Gunn’s bold new DC Universe in spectacular fashion. While fans have been distracted by the fact that the trailer also featured DC’s most lovable character in the form of Krypto the Superdog, some have suggested that specific shots from the preview hint at a big Jimmy Olsen turn.

The “Superman” trailer is a veritable smorgasbord of Easter eggs. The teaser has “Dragon Ball Z” fans obsessed with one particularly dark moment, while that robot that David Corenswet’s Man of Steel kneels on in a quick shot is actually more important than you think. Now, fans have gone a step further by developing their own Jimmy Olsen theory based on some of the most fantastic images from the trailer.

At one point, Superman fights a giant kaiju in Metropolis, suggesting some sort of climactic showdown between the Man of Steel and your typical superhero movie monster. But what if this particular beast is not typical at all? Fans on both Twitter/X and reddit They’re suggesting that the kaiju in question is actually Jimmy Olsen, and there’s certainly precedent for this in the comics.

It’ll be cool when it’s revealed that the kaiju is actually Jimmy Olsen, who drank a mysterious potion. https://t.co/tAt8y4j4dA

– Owen likes comics (@owenlikescomics) December 19, 2024

As proof of this, friends are publishing the cover of a Silver Age comic book featuring a gigantic Jimmy Olsen who was hit by a growth ray and transformed into a “giant turtle man.” That particular issue of “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen” was published in 1961, although the giant turtle man returned in 2023’s “Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #3.” What’s more, this is far from the only time Jimmy Olsen has transformed into DC comics.

At this point, absolutely nothing has been confirmed regarding Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen transforming into some sort of gigantic beast in “Superman.” The trailer primarily features the character in the Daily Planet newsroom and contains no shots that even hint at his actual transformation process. But if the kaiju in the trailer turns out to be Olsen (after all, that giant monster in the trailer has the same eye color as Gisondo), it wouldn’t come completely out of the blue.

Aside from his giant turtle-man form, Jimmy has undergone all sorts of metamorphoses throughout DC history. 11 issues before the turtle monster’s debut, Olsen became “Jimmy the Genie,” announcing on the cover that he had “become the genie in Aladdin’s lamp.” Olsen later transformed into a Bizarro version of himself after being struck by Professor Potter’s lightning bolt in 1964’s “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen” #80.

Throughout his time in the comics, Olsen also became a human porcupine, a mind reader, and, in 1960’s “Jimmy Olsen” #44, “The Werewolf of Metropolis.” All of which is to say that the character has a long history of transforming into all sorts of strange creatures, and while James Gunn says “Superman” is about a singular modern preoccupation, this Silver Age preoccupation with story tropes Sci-fi is surely the kind of thing you would find a way to work into your Superman story.

While it hasn’t yet been confirmed that Jimmy Olsen will take on his monster form in “Superman,” such an outlandish idea seems like exactly the kind of thing James Gunn would adopt for the film, which is otherwise populated by the kind of characters least acquaintances. DC personalities you would expect from the director. Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho, Edi Gathegi’s Mr Terrific, and various members of the Justice League shown in the “Superman” trailer are all deep comparative cuts to what we’ve seen before, and Gunn is clearly bringing at least some of his unconventional sensitivity to Supes (just take a look at Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner haircut). This all bodes well for a Jimmy Olsen kaiju in the final film, with Giant Turtle Man himself being something of a deep cut from DC history.

Considering that Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor is supposed to be the film’s main villain, it could well be that, in true Gunn style, the shots of Superman fighting a giant kaiju in the heart of Metropolis have nothing to do with with some climactic battle and They actually come from a wild introduction by Jimmy Olsen. Just think how refreshing it would be to find Supes fighting Olsen’s giant turtle man when the film opens, just so he can return the young reporter to his original form. It would surely be considered one of the best character introductions in comic book movie history and would go a long way toward setting the tone for Gunn’s own vision of DC.

“Superman” opens in theaters on July 11, 2025.