Superman & Lois Adds Jimmy Olsen for Final Season

 Superman & Lois is expected to arrive on The CW this fall for its fourth and final season but the DC series will be adding one more iconic character before it takes a bow. According to TVLine, Superman & Lois has cast Douglas Smith as Jimmy Olsen, Daily Planet photographer for the final season. Per the report, the series' version of Jimmy is set to be a 20-something extrovert who is the "life of the party" at the office and "despite being work colleagues with Clark, he's been unable to get him out of his awkward shell. Unaware of Clark's super-secret, Jimmy's still determined to become his pal."

Television fans may best know Smith for his role as Ben Henrickson on HBO's Big Love as well as for his role as Corey Brockfield on Big Little Lies. He has also appeared on When We Rise and The Alienist as well as in the 2013 film Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters where he played Percy's half-brother, Tyson. Smith will be the second person to portray a version of Jimmy Olsen on The CW. Mehcad Brooks previously portrayed James Olsen on Supergirl —which was set on Earth-38 for the majority of its Arrowverse run.

However, Smith's casting also comes at an interesting time for Superman & Lois. At the end of Season 3, it was announced that much of the cast of the series would not be returning for Season 4. Seven cast members in total were cut: Dylan Walsh (General Sam Lane), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Lang), Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing), Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing), Wole Parks (John Henry Irons), Tayler Buck (Natalie Irons), and Sofia Hasmik (Chrissy Beppo). At the time, it was noted that the exiting cast would likely make guest appearances in the final season (one cast member, Valdez, has already shared on Instagram that he has been working on the series). yler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman), Tulloch, Michael Bishop (Jonathan Kent), and Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent) are all set to remain as series regulars with Michael Cudlitz (Lex Luthor) also being promoted to series regular for the final season. That said, there are still plenty of questions about what Season 4 of Superman & Lois will entail considering such a dramatic change in cast and since it seems like we're heading back to Metropolis.

Superman & Lois Will be The CW's Final DC TV Show

With The Flash ending last year and the cancellation of Gotham Knights after just one season, Superman & Lois will mark the end of an era for The CW, closing out the network's DC television series, something that began with Smallville in 2001.

"Over the last three seasons, SUPERMAN & LOIS redefined both the superhero genre and family drama as Tyler, Elizabeth and the entire cast effortlessly portrayed these classic characters with new layers of depth and complexity that had never before been explored in the Superman universe," said Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment, The CW Network. "We are grateful for the years of hard work and graceful storytelling from the show's writers, producers, actors and crew, as well as our terrific partners at Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions. As Superman embarks on his final flight, the team is leaving us with an absolutely epic 10-episode must-watch-every-minute farewell to one of the most legendary CW families ever."

Why Was Superman & Lois Cancelled?

The CW network president Brad Schwartz recently revealed why Superman & Lois would be ending after four seasons despite the fact that the series is relatively popular: the upcoming Superman film.

According to Schwartz, the decision to end Superman & Lois came down from Warner Bros. because they didn't want a competing Superman product — and with the upcoming Superman, there would be.

"They don't want a competing Superman product in the marketplace," Schwartz said (via The Wrap).

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn had previously indicated back in early 2023 when Superman was first announced that Superman & Lois was likely to continue for a bit, even with changes happening at The CW as well as the initial development slate for DC Studios.

"It's a show everybody likes, so it's going to keep going for a little bit," Gunn said.

The series ultimately went on for Season 3 and will have Season 4 — fulfilling the estimated "one to two more seasons" that was also mentioned at that time.

Are you looking forward to Season 4 of Superman & Lois? Let us know in the comment section.