Earlier this week, it was revealed that DC Studios is officially developing a Superman spinoff TV show focused on Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo). However, although DC Crime will be about Daily Planet reporters tackling major superhero cases — the first involving The Flash villain Gorilla Grodd — neither Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) nor Clark Kent (David Corenswet) are expected to appear.
In James Gunn’s Superman movie, Jimmy Olsen played a small, but pivotal role in helping Lois Lane gather the evidence she needed to take down Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Despite his limited screen time, he became a standout character, even if much of the audience discussion about Gisondo’s character centered on his relationship with Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio).
As such, the earliest rumors of a potential Jimmy Olsen-centered Superman spinoff began circulating over the summer, alongside another possible spinoff about breakout character Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). However, it appears DC Crime won’t include the DC Universe’s biggest character, but there could be a way for the show to still reference Superman and/or Clark Kent.
How DC Crime Could Still Have A Superman Presence
The initial reports about DC Crime stated specifically that Clark Kent and Lois Lane wouldn’t appear, not necessarily that their actors wouldn’t. While that rules out an appearance from Brosnahan, technically Corenswet has another character he could show up as: Superman.
Since DC Crime will deal with a major supervillain like Gorilla Grodd, it would make sense for a superhero to show up at some point. Arguably, that could be any member of the Justice Gang — Mister Terrific, Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) — but Superman would make the most sense since Clark could be aware of Jimmy working on the story.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about DC Crime, but it would be a missed opportunity to have a Daily Planet TV show about Jimmy Olsen investigating a supervillain without having at least one of the DC Universe’s superheroes show up. Even if Clark Kent isn’t a main character, having his alterego, Superman, appear would be a great way to connect the show to the movie.
How Clark Kent & Lois Lane Could Be Referenced In DC Crime
Depending on how much of DC Crime actually takes place at The Daily Planet, the DC series could have a built-in reason for why Lois Lane and Clark Kent don’t appear. However, if there are enough scenes at the newspaper’s offices, the show will need to explain why the characters never appear. Of course, Superman gave them a perfect explanation.
Very little of the Superman movie actually takes place at The Daily Planet, and much of the film sees both Clark and Lois doing other things elsewhere. So DC Crime could have a reoccurring bit where Jimmy explains Lois is off chasing another story, or Clark is who knows where. Using the characters’ absences as a frequent joke would be a great way to make their presence felt while ensuring the focus of the series remains on Jimmy.
Of course, it’s still early days in the development of DC Crime. Perhaps showrunners Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault (American Vandal) will find a way to have Corenswet and Brosnahan appear as their respective Superman characters. Or, at the very least, they could have small cameos. We’ll have to wait and see as DC Crime continues development.
- Release Date
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July 11, 2025
- Runtime
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130 minutes
- Producers
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Peter Safran
