As well as being the first movie in the rebooted DC Universe, 2025’s Superman was one of the year’s biggest superhero blockbusters. Starring David Corenswet as the titular hero, the movie was written to be the first installment in the brand new DC movie and TV shared universe, helmed by James Gunn and Peter Safran. James Gunn also wrote and directed Superman, furthering the perception that the movie will set the tone for the wider DCU as it moves forward. Superman introduced many DCU characters, including several mainstays of the hero’s story. However, one of these characters presented a perplexing mystery for fans.
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In the DCU’s Superman, Jimmy Olsen is shown to be irresistible to women. As the Superman: The Art and Making of the Film book explains: “Jimmy also possesses his own unlikely superpower of sorts— an inexplicable and effortless ability to charm the opposite sex.” Jimmy Olsen actor Skyler Gisondo even elaborated on the character’s most unexpected characteristic, explaining, “the way James [Gunn] explained it to me is that every woman in the [DCU] is, for some reason, just obsessed with Jimmy, and it’s beyond anyone’s comprehension. Like, why? Because he’s just a pretty normal dude.” Gisondo’s explanation highlights that Superman‘s biggest mystery was written to be just that: totally mystifying.
Jimmy Olsen’s Superpower Is Supposed To Be Inexplicable
There are a handful of reasons that could explain why the DCU’s Jimmy Olsen was written to appeal so much to its female characters. The most obvious is that James Gunn has a track record of inserting playful and irreverent ideas into his movies, and that he simply wanted to add another layer to a Superman mainstay who isn’t always given much attention. Olsen has played a few different roles in Superman stories in the comics, so it’s possible that Gunn wanted to add another feather to his proverbial cap.
Making the character unexpectedly charming also helps create interest in Jimmy Olsen’s DCU series. While the whole point of the addition is that there isn’t really a point, that in itself is an interesting explanation. Whether or not it relates to James Gunn having a bigger plan for the character in the DCU is irrelevant, as Superman‘s Jimmy Olsen at least captures audiences’ attention in his relatively brief appearance.
Of course, previous incarnations of the character have gone off-script to add characteristics that haven’t traditionally been a part of the comics. Smallville famously retconned parts of the character’s backstory to give Olsen better stories, so it’s not unthinkable that the DCU might simply be doing the same. As it stands, Jimmy Olsen’s irresistible nature is simply another colorful addition to the wider story of the DCU that gives the character a little extra depth.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
