James Gunn Confirms Jimmy Olsen DCU Series Won’t Be Animated
The DC Universe continues to take shape, and one of its more unexpected projects just got a pretty big clarification. James Gunn has confirmed a key detail about the upcoming Jimmy Olsen-centered series, and it clears up one of the bigger questions fans have been tossing around. If you were picturing something animated, that’s officially off the table.
The show will spin out of Superman, where Skyler Gisondo introduced his take on Jimmy Olsen alongside David Corenswet’s Man of Steel.
While the movie gave Jimmy a strong supporting role, the series is expected to push him front and center, diving deeper into his world at the Daily Planet and the strange, dangerous stories that come with it. Details about the plot are still mostly under wraps, and there’s no release date yet, but pieces are starting to come together.
The latest update came straight from Gunn during a casual interaction with fans on Threads. One fan praised the inclusion of Superman’s Hypno-Glasses in the film and asked if Jimmy would be using his comic-accurate signal watch in the spin-off. They also referred to the show as animated. That’s when things got cleared up.
Another fan jumped in, questioning where that assumption even came from, and Gunn followed up with a simple, direct response: “(It’s not).” Just a quick confirmation that the Jimmy Olsen series will be live-action.
As for the signal watch, Gunn didn’t comment on whether that classic comic element will make its way into the show, so that’s still a mystery for now.
There’s also been some confusion about the project’s title. Rumors had been floating around that the series was called DC Crime, but Gunn shut that down just as quickly.
He said, “Just FYI there has never been a project titled ‘DC Crime’ in development, not even as a working title. I don’t know where that came from but it’s weird.” He did note, however, that other reported details about the show weren’t entirely off base.
The series has some interesting creative talent attached. Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, the minds behind American Vandal, are writing and running the show. Their work leans into grounded storytelling with a unique edge, which could be a perfect fit for a character like Jimmy Olsen navigating a world full of supervillains and larger-than-life threats.
Perrault even confirmed in a recent interview that the show does have a title, it just hasn’t been revealed yet. Story-wise, the series is rumored to follow Jimmy and other Daily Planet reporters as they chase stories involving dangerous metahumans.
Season 1 is expected to feature Gorilla Grodd, a fan-favorite villain usually tied to The Flash. Dropping a character like Grodd into a journalist-driven series could make for a cool mix of investigative storytelling and full-on DC chaos.
Between Gunn’s steady stream of updates and the creative team involved, this Jimmy Olsen series is shaping up to be one of the more unique corners of the DCU.
It might not be animated, but that just means we’re getting a more grounded, character-driven look at one of Superman’s most iconic allies.