James Gunn’s Son of Jor-El reboot, Superman: Legacy, has cast Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen and Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher.
There’s been a steady trickle of casting news since those strikes finally rumbled to a close a few weeks ago, and it’s clear that James Gunn’s upcoming DC debut, Superman: Legacy, is rapidly taking shape. Only yesterday (that being 22nd November), it was announced that Nicholas Hoult is to play criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, for example.
We’ve now learned that Hoult will be joined by some other familiar faces. Deadline has revealed that Sara Sampaio is to play Eve Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s assistant and potential love interest. (The same character, you may recall, was played by Valerie Perrine in 1978’s Superman and 1980’s Superman II. The sound of Gene Hackman’s Luthor yelling ‘MISS TESCHMACHER!” is forever emblazoned in our memories.)
In the role of Jimmy Olsen (per The Hollywood Reporter), The Daily Planet’s gee-whiz photographer, is Skyler Gisondo, who you may have seen in the likes of Licorice Pizza and TV’s Santa Clarita Diet. (Edit: my learned colleague, James Harvey, has just reminded me that Gisondo was of course also in the superb Booksmart. He was excellent in it as the wealthy, yacht-bothering Jared.)
Having a relatively known actor like Gisondo in the Jimmy Olsen role suggests the character will be getting a more expanded role in the plot than he did in Zack Snyder’s grimdark DC movies. Indeed, Olsen’s role in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was so fleeting that we didn’t even realise it was him until we looked at the end credits.
At any rate, it’s full steam ahead for Superman: Legacy, which is said to focus on a younger version of Superman, with the Man of Steel this time played by David Corenswet (the creepy projectionist off of Pearl). Alongside him as Lois Lane will be Rachel Brosnahan (who played the title character in TV’s The Marvelous Mrs Maisel). The casting for those two was announced back in July.
Said to tell the story of Superman’s efforts to “reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas,” Superman: Legacy is out in cinemas on the 11th July 2025. That seems a long time away, doesn’t it?
