Jimmy Olsen Was in Batman v Superman, Did You See Him?

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicehas been in theater for a matter of hours, but it’s never too early to start diving deep into the story and exploring the Easter Eggs left behind. There had long been rumors thatcomic bookcharacter Jimmy Olsen would have a presence in the movie, with many speculating thatScoot McNairycould be playing this Daily Planet photographer, since his role was never confirmed during the production. DirectorZack Snyderconfirmed toEntertainment Weeklythat Jimmy Olsen can be seen in the film, although you may not have noticed him at first. There will be big SPOILERS if you haven’t seenBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceyet, so read on at your own risk.

Back in February, a report from a French magazine claimed thatScoot McNairyis playingJimmy Olsen, but that turned out to be false. The actor was actually playing an amputee who lost both of his legs during the Battle ofMetropolisin 2013’sMan of Steel. Jimmy Olsen was actually played by Michael Cassidy, best known for his roles onThe O.C.and as Daily Planet editor Grant Gabriel onSmallville. InBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jimmy accompanies Lois Lane (Amy Adams) on an assignment in Africa, but he is quickly outed as a CIA plant, and killed by a gunshot to the head, right in front of Lois. Here’s whatZack Snyderhad to say about why Jimmy Olsen had such a small role.

“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?”

This character isn’t actually revealed as Jimmy Olsen right away, but fans will get to see a bit more of him later this year, when theUltimate Editionis released. We first reported on the Ultimate Edition earlier this month, which will be R-rated, and will include anEaster Eggthat will help set upJustice League Part 1. Here what the director had to say about Jimmy Olsen’s larger role that will be seen in the Extended Edition.

“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.”

Ironically,Zack Snyderoriginally had a much different actor in mind to play Jimmy Olsen, but this particular actor ended up landing a much larger role instead: Lex Luthor. Before Michael Cassidy was cast, the director revealed he wantedJesse Eisenbergto play Olsen, which would have made his sudden death a much bigger shock to fans. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say about why he originally wanted to castJesse Eisenbergas Jimmy Olsen, and his initial meeting with the actor.

“I thought, if it wereJesse Eisenbergand he got out and he goes, ‘I’m Jimmy Olsen,’ you’d be like, oh my God, we’re gonna have Jimmy Olsen in the whole movie, right?' And then if he got shot, you’d just be like, ‘What!? You can’t do that.’ I said, ‘I want to do this misdirect and you’d be great. You’d be a great Jimmy Olsen.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool,’ and he was being very Jesse in the meeting. Introverted but constantly going, ‘Okay, I see, uh-huh. So it’s sort of a pop-culture redirect, you’re gonna do, because of the certain status of an actor.'”

The director held this meeting with his wife and producing partnerDeborah Snyder, and after watching him throughout the meeting, they started envisioning him as Lex Luthor. At the time, they had been meeting with actors much older than the 32-year-oldJesse Eisenberg, but they decided to roll the dice and cast him as Lex. Here’s what the director had to say about how that meeting for Jimmy Olsen gave birth to their Lex Luthor.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that guy is crazy… Debbie, what about Jesse as Lex? We talked about the usual suspects that you would imagine; any actor who has been bald, probably.Bryan Cranstonwould have been great, right? And by the way, he’s an amazing actor. Can you imagine how different the movie would be?”

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicetook in $27.7 million last night, and it will likely take in more than $160 million during its opening weekend, although it could be much higher. What do you think about Jimmy Olsen’s brief appearance inBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Would you have liked to see the photographer in a much larger role?