Earlier this week, we were introduced to James Gunn’s new Superman and Lois. David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan will be playing the iconic DC characters in the hotly anticipated Superman: Legacy, which Warner Bros. is praying will begin a clean slate for its DC heroes and leave the DCEU in the dustbin of history.
Now that we know the leads, fan-casting has begun in earnest for the rest of the cast, with many actors being put forward for Lex Luthor, Perry White, Jor-El and the rest. One particularly anticipated upcoming Metropolis mainstay is Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen. The character had a rough time in the DCEU, with Zack Snyder brutally killing him off just minutes into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Fans are suggesting every young male actor with ginger hair for Jimmy and are adamant Gunn needs to deliver a comics-accurate take. We can only join this chorus for a faithful representation of Jimmy Olsen, and that’s exactly why he should be powerfully and unambiguously trans.
Jimmy Olsen was born to wear a dress
Jimmy Olsen has been dressing as a woman since 1966, with the story “Miss Jimmy Olsen” finding him trying to solve a jewel heist. His cunning plan is to become “Julie Ogden”, promptly femming up in a wig, heels, makeup, dress, and padding. He’s such a hit as Julie that he makes all the cis girls jealous of how cute he is. Naturally the jewel thief also falls for Olsen’s charms, though on spotting his Adam’s apple the disguise is rumbled.
But Jimmy clearly loved the experience, and over the years went into girl mode at every possible opportunity: to escape the cops, to fool everyone at the Daily Planet by working as “Leslie Lowe, Girl Reporter”, and even infiltrating his fan club as “Jackie Oliver”.
This isn’t just some quirk of the Silver Age, either. In Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman (which James Gunn says is a primary inspiration for Superman: Legacy) Olsen proudly says “I look great!” while in red pumps, a denim miniskirt, a stuffed red bra and clutching a blonde wig.
Most recently, in 2019’s Who Killed Jimmy Olsen, Matt Fraction had Jimmy looking stunning as he descended a staircase in a sleek red dress while being drooled over by lovestruck men. As Superman’s pal coolly put it: “Down, boys.”
That’s a solid half-century plus of Olsen embracing his feminine side, so we demand that James Gunn stays faithful to the original comics and puts him in a dress where he belongs.
Superhero movies’ first major trans character?
It’s worth underlining that despite all the above, the comics’ Jimmy Olsen isn’t actually trans (well, not yet anyway…). However, it can’t be denied that Jimmy clearly gets a kick out of looking like a cute girl and never passes up an opportunity to dress up. But it’s entirely plausible to read Olsen as a trans character, albeit one who couldn’t be out and proud before the modern era.
On top of that, there simply aren’t too many trans characters in comics, and so far none in modern superhero movies, and this needs to change sooner or later. We were going to get Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh in Warner Bros’ Batgirl, but with that film forever consigned to the vault it’s an opportunity lost. On top of all that, the alteration to the comics character to make them outright trans rather than someone who’s simply a huge fan of girling out at every opportunity would be a very, very minor change.
Naturally, the usual suspects would immediately gripe and moan about Warner Bros. turning the DCU “woke”, but all you need to do is point to the literal decades of comics about Olsen’s passion for femininity, their frequent embrace of girl identities, and refusal to be ashamed by loving womens’ fashion. This is the character of Jimmy Olsen, and the movies need to reflect it.
So come on, James Gunn, Jimmy Olsen deserves a moment in the spotlight in Superman: Legacy after their shoddy treatment in the DCEU. And if and when that happens let’s have him looking as he should: with a killer hairdo, in a cute dress, sporting impeccable make-up, and making Lois and the rest of the Daily Planet women green with envy.