6 Times Supergirl Improved DC Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)
Failed To Improve DC Mythology...
4. The Changes To Jimmy Olsen
CBS
On face value, as a character on its own, Mehcad Brooks’
James Olsen is a great character and an important part of the Supergirl TV
series. In the context of the greater mythology of DC Comics, however,
Supergirl’s spin on Jimmy Olsen is just a little confusing.
In the comic book world, Jimmy is the long-time BFF of Clark
Kent who works at The Daily Planet as a photographer. A scrawny nerd, Olsen
finds himself having to rely on CK to get him out of all kinds of scrapes over
the decades, but Jimmy also provides a very human grounding for Superman to
rely on and be influenced by.
When you hang around with an array of god-like figures, it
helps to have a regular everyman at your side to keep you in check and maintain
that your focus isn’t just on otherworldly action up in the stars. And that’s
why Jimmy Olsen is such a fascinating character to be positioned alongside the
all-powerful Kal-El.
For Supergirl, the show decided to reimage Jimmy Olsen as James
Olsen – a handsome, muscled-up, suave photographer-turned-news mogul who has his own heroic alter-ego as Guardian.
As mentioned, this depiction of the character works well
within the confines of Supergirl, and James is a brilliant character. Yet in
the scheme of DC mythology, it just goes against the established history of the
Jimmy Olsen character.
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