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Possible Jimmy Olsen Gender Swap in 'Man of Steel'

There are often changes when adapting comics but will Jimmy now be a 'she'?

We've seen many changes when comic books get adapted for the big screen. Sometimes it's race such as when Michael Clarke Duncan was cast as Kingpin in Daredevil. You could even point out a red-headed Amy Adams cast as the traditionally brunette Lois Lane in Man of Steel. Now it looks like Lois' hair color isn't the only change that we might see in the film.

Digital Spy caught the possibility that Jimmy Olsen could be seeing a gender change for the movie.

No Caption Provided

Where this comes from is on IMDB, Rebecca Buller is listed as playing Jenny Olsen. It could be easy to dismiss this as simply the possibility that we'll see Jimmy's sister on screen but there is an absence of an actor listed as playing Jimmy. There is also a scene in the trailer where Perry White is running from destruction along with Buller.

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Watching the scene again, she's not carrying a camera around her neck but instead what appears to be an office badge of some sort. It's possible it could be a press badge. Why would Jimmy's sister be running from chaos with Perry unless she was either visiting the Daily Planet or working there.

Digital Spy also reports that Buller's role hasn't been confirmed by Warner Bros. and we know IMDB sometimes contains errors, especially in early production.

Does Jimmy Olsen's gender matter? It would add a possible different dynamic to being "Superman's Pal" and could also be competition for Lois. All we can do is wait to see what develops from this.

122 Comments

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RedQueen

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Edited By RedQueen

Interesting. I don't really see a viable reason why they would need to change Jimmy's gender, unless they were going for some kind of love triangle thing :p

Personally, I don't think it matters. I just don't see a reason why they would. Either way, it's certainly interesting.

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vance_astro

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Edited By vance_astro  Moderator

Is it me or do only Marvel and DC do this? Gender Swaps in Race Changes don't seem to serve a purpose. Only thing I can think of is that these companies need to appear diverse outside of comics because general movie goers don't know their history. They need to PRETEND they have such a diverse roster although they don't give blacks, or females the proper face time in comics.

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reignmaker

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Edited By reignmaker

My first reaction was an eye roll, but if there's quality acting to go with a quality story it won't matter.

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MyComicStoreDotNET

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I don't particularly care about what Olsen's gender is in the movie as long as the personality is largely un-altered.

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Alchemax_7

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Edited By Alchemax_7

I'm conflicted by this. It's good to have another female character that could possibly compete for Clark's attention and could changed the dynamic of being "Superman's Pal" Though if it is in fact not Jimmy Olsen's sibling or relative and indeed fact a sex-changed Jimmy I believe it could put general movie goers off a bit with the change. If they saw the original films or even Superman Returns, they would know Jimmy is a male but when going to see MOS they couldn't possibly know or like what's going on. Personally if the rumours are true, I'm open minded to see how it would play out, I like changes that shake up the atmosphere of the movie, could turn out for the best or the worst but it's not released yet and I still want to see it as much as I did before and I'm in fact even more excited now than I was before.

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SeanFoster

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Edited By SeanFoster

Superman's Friend with Benefits!

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CykoJimmY

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Edited By CykoJimmY

NOOOOO FUCK NO HELL NO THAT ALONE WONT MAKE ME WATCH THIS GODDAMN MOVIE NOOO

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akawiccan

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Edited By akawiccan

... since my childhood Jimmy is my favorite character. Why would they change his gender? He's Supermans Pal, his buddy - I'm sorry but I don't see a girl in that place. Hopefully that isn't true!

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Gambit1024

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Edited By Gambit1024

Huh. Maybe this'll make the character interesting.

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Press Oblivion

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Edited By Press Oblivion

What's Buller?

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cmaprice

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Edited By cmaprice

As long as we see the Giant Turtle (wo)Man version of Jimmy/Jenny, I'm good.
 
That is part of this film, right? Right?

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Inverno

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Edited By Inverno

Ummm... WHYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?

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BatteredArmor

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Edited By BatteredArmor

The question isn't whether Jimmy's gender matters the question is does Jimmy matter

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SUNMAN

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Edited By SUNMAN

This is no big deal. If the actress puts on a good performance I'm fine with it. As long as we get a good performance out of the actor or actress race and gender does not matter. And I've only found that some diehard message board fans really care about it.

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KindleClay

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Edited By KindleClay

Neat! Jimmy Olsen as a woman would be great. I think he and superman could have an affair after all Grace Randolph's Supurbia has a really hot Gay thing going on, why not Superman. Lois and Jimmy could fight over Superman! So cool and Superman wouldn't even have to know that 'She' is Jimmy Olsen!

Until after that night in bed!

Yep... DC sure wouldn't have a problem with this!

Sarcasm?

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BR_Havoc

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Edited By BR_Havoc

This seems like a stupid change for change sake. Then again it could all be just to get some press and they have Jimmy in there as well as Jenny like they are twins or something.

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Phaedrusgr

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Edited By Phaedrusgr

@SeanFoster: And suddenly, the watch that Superman gave to Jimmy - Jenny Olsen transforms into an instrument - alarm of passion and lust...

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Trevel8182

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Edited By Trevel8182

My problem with this is what happened to Nick Fury when they replaced him with Marcus Johnson because Samuel Jackson was Black Nick Fury in the Avengers and I love Jimmy Olsen so I hope this doesn't happen.

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StMichalofWilson

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Edited By StMichalofWilson

@cmaprice said:

As long as we see the Giant Turtle (wo)Man version of Jimmy/Jenny, I'm good.

That is part of this film, right? Right?

LOL!

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StMichalofWilson

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Edited By StMichalofWilson

By the way, I'm just going to put this out there: Why Jenny Olsen when there can be a Chloe Sullivan in the movie?

I'm just saying...

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ShadowMonkey

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Edited By ShadowMonkey

Being a Hollywood movie, I guess we should just be glad that the movie still takes place in Metropolis and Superman can still fly. At least I'm presuming that from the trailers I've seen. Has Michael Bay been involved? I heard a rumor that at the end of the credits Superman flies into space and finds the Teenage Mutant (or Alien) Ninja Turtles.

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J1ml33

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Edited By J1ml33

My Take is the Man of Steel is on Earth Two [hence all these Interesting new takes on beloved Superman Supporting cast members such as Perry and Jimmy . ] so everybody chill .

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

IDMB isn't the most reliable source and this is just a floating rumour with nothing confirmed yet so I don't hold it to be true yet. However if it does turn out to be true, WTF? Seriously why change Jimmy's gender? It makes no sense for one of Superman's longest supporting cast members and best pal to suddenly become a woman. What if Lois Lane was called Louis Lane instead? Or if Alfred had been a woman in Nolan's Batman films? It just seems unreasonable to add another female character to a Superman story when he has Lois, Lana, Cat Grant and Martha Kent in his life. Just update him to make him more modern, not change his gender. It makes no sense. A black Perry White and a ginger Lois Lane is one thing but a switched gender Jimmy Olson is another thing.

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hyperman

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Edited By hyperman

Awful!!! I hate all these gender swap and race change thing. They destroy mythos, Jimmy olsen has been such an iconic character in Superman's mythos together with Lois Lane. If they wanted to include diversity, they should have picked Ron Troupe, Keith White, John Henry Irons and so forth. Even, if they wanted to include more female characters, they had: Cat Grant, Lana Lang and Lucy Lane. Was it necessary to turn Jimmy into a girl? I don't think so.

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

@SeanFoster said:

Superman's Friend with Benefits!

And now I'm weirded out by this even more. That's all sorts of wrong.

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Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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Great idea! Hopefully they turn Lois Lane into Lewis Lane. Then Supes can have a bromance with Lewis an be sleeping with his bes pal Jenny Olsen! Smh at a pointless change in gender.

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KindleClay

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Edited By KindleClay

Is it me or do only Marvel and DC do this? Gender Swaps in Race Changes don't seem to serve a purpose. Only thing I can think of is that these companies need to appear diverse outside of comics because general movie goers don't know their history. They need to PRETEND they have such a diverse roster although they don't give blacks, or females the proper face time in comics.

@Vance Astro: You are entirely correct.

Comic Books are not about Romance but Action, Action, Action. The Movie Studios are trying to 'cover' the usual bases. They want every easy market. I'd prefer Nick Fury for one to be White. Not because Samuel Jackson isn't cool, but because Nick Fury is White! In the comics. I want the comics not Sam Raimi who did a trilogy of Spider Man about his 'love' for Mary Jane!

Or Ang Lee who had the Hulk fighting a 3 headed Dog. Or Professor Nolan and his tepid interpretation with the Anorexic Bale as The Batman!

I'm not impressed by 99.9% of the comic book movies so far. Hugh Jackman is STILL Wolverine! He hasn't even worn the Costume yet! One actor for over 10 years now with Brian "I'm a Commercial Director" Singer STILL as Director. No wonder Scott "Cyclops" Summer shot Xavier.

Good Shot I say! Good Shot!

p.s. after all it was probably like Patrick Stewart getting shot! No Big Deal! :)

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KindleClay

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Edited By KindleClay

I don't particularly care about what Olsen's gender is in the movie as long as the personality is largely un-altered.

@MyComicStoreDotNET:

Well a sex change would actually change a person, don't you think?

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z3ro180

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Edited By z3ro180

Meh don't really care for jimmy he's a great character but this won't make me turn round and condemn what is set to be an epic movie

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Mutant God

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Edited By Mutant God

Its probably not a gender swap just replacing Jimmy with a female partner for Lois

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vance_astro

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Edited By vance_astro  Moderator
@KindleClay said: 

@Vance Astro: You are entirely correct.

Comic Books are not about Romance but Action, Action, Action. The Movie Studios are trying to 'cover' the usual bases. They want every easy market. I'd prefer Nick Fury for one to be White. Not because Samuel Jackson isn't cool, but because Nick Fury is White! In the comics. I want the comics not Sam Raimi who did a trilogy of Spider Man about his 'love' for Mary Jane!

I agree with this. Nick Fury was white for longer than i've lived and now all of a sudden the are slowly cutting him out of the picture and I'm getting sick of it. Why not just MAKE a black character instead of SWAPPING races?   
 
@KindleClay said: 

I'm not impressed by 99.9% of the comic book movies so far. Hugh Jackman is STILL Wolverine! He hasn't even worn the Costume yet! One actor for over 10 years now with Brian "I'm a Commercial Director" Singer STILL as Director. No wonder Scott "Cyclops" Summer shot Xavier.

I agree. I'm fan of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine but I haven't been impressed with more than half the comic book films. Most of them have been cheesy and full of unnecessary changes.
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the_fallen11

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Edited By the_fallen11

I think this is a cool idea

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KindleClay

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Edited By KindleClay

@Vance Astro:GOSH I LIKE YOU!

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

@Vance Astro said:

Why not just MAKE a black character instead of SWAPPING races?

See this is exactly what Marvel should have done. Maybe Phil Coulson could have been black instead? I loved Coulson and Jackson as Fury in the film but it's disrespectful to Fury's character when Marvel go for the big buck option of Jackson as Fury due to the popularity and similarity to Ultimate Nick Fury. And now 616 Marvel have killed Nick Fury for Jacob Fury? Utterly pathetic. Anyway why not focus on Superman's other female supporting cast members rather than make Jimmy Olson a girl? No sense whatsoever.

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vance_astro

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Edited By vance_astro  Moderator
@Lvenger said:

@Vance Astro said:

Why not just MAKE a black character instead of SWAPPING races?

See this is exactly what Marvel should have done. Maybe Phil Coulson could have been black instead? I loved Coulson and Jackson as Fury in the film but it's disrespectful to Fury's character when Marvel go for the big buck option of Jackson as Fury due to the popularity and similarity to Ultimate Nick Fury. And now 616 Marvel have killed Nick Fury for Jacob Fury? Utterly pathetic. Anyway why not focus on Superman's other female supporting cast members rather than make Jimmy Olson a girl? No sense whatsoever.

We're on the same page. I'm most annoyed by Heimdall being black.....
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vance_astro

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Edited By vance_astro  Moderator
@KindleClay said:

@Vance Astro:GOSH I LIKE YOU!

Cool :) 
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NewComicGuy

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Edited By NewComicGuy

I'm not a fan when they do this stuff. I'm okay with some character modification here and there if they can back it up with a good story, but these main characters need to stay as true to who they are as possible. It's a little disappointing when you invest in these characters and suddenly when you see them put to film, they are nothing like the character you were looking forward to.

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sora_thekey

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Edited By sora_thekey

Well, Jimmy idolizes Superman... why can't he/she be in love with him as Jenny?

@StMichalofWilson said:

By the way, I'm just going to put this out there: Why Jenny Olsen when there can be a Chloe Sullivan in the movie?

I'm just saying...

I WOULD LOVE THIS!

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

@Vance Astro said:

@Lvenger said:

@Vance Astro said:

Why not just MAKE a black character instead of SWAPPING races?

See this is exactly what Marvel should have done. Maybe Phil Coulson could have been black instead? I loved Coulson and Jackson as Fury in the film but it's disrespectful to Fury's character when Marvel go for the big buck option of Jackson as Fury due to the popularity and similarity to Ultimate Nick Fury. And now 616 Marvel have killed Nick Fury for Jacob Fury? Utterly pathetic. Anyway why not focus on Superman's other female supporting cast members rather than make Jimmy Olson a girl? No sense whatsoever.

We're on the same page. I'm most annoyed by Heimdall being black.....

To be fair to Elba I liked his performence of Heimdall. But yeah it made no sense for him to be black for racial diversity. Didn't an asian actor play Heimdall? I prefer him to be bearded and more grumpy than he was in Thor.

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Smurfboy

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Edited By Smurfboy

I've always wondered why there's a white/black versions of Nick Fury everywhere in comic book and movies! What's up with that? From my point-of-view, seems like no one complains about that?

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Ren_

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Edited By Ren_

@Smurfboy: The thing with that is, technically there IS a black Nick Fury in comics, prior to the movies. Ultimate Nick Fury's appearance was, funnily enough, actually based off of Samuel L. Jackson and the MCU mixed some ultimate continuity and storylines with 616.

You'll hear plenty of complaining about the fact that they've put a contrived version of MCU Nick Fury in 616 now through Marcus Johnson (aka Nick Fury Jr.), though.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

This has instantly pissed me off, there is absalutly NO reason why he should be a girl and a "love triangle" is the last thing I wan't to see in this film

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The Mighty Monarch

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WAT.

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Nightw BR

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Edited By Nightw BR

Don't know how I feel about this. According to some preview images Chloe might be in the movie Sullivan's Factory. Hint hint, if that happens I'm singing for happiness.

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Maxmachine

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Edited By Maxmachine

I think it's just a politica correctness issue. They needen an african-american in Daredevil, let's make the Kingpin an african-american. They needed more female characters in Superman, let's turn Jimmy into Jenny.

No need for it, really. If they want to do it, do it. I just don't find the necessity.

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mrpandopool

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Edited By mrpandopool

My prediction is that if this gets through then something will happen in the comics. Yes I´m saying you that Jimmy Olsen is going to have a gender swap history in the comics uahahahahhaha.

But talking seriously why did they would do that really the movie needs a character that supports kent as freind you know like an scene in a bar after a long day working to freinds just going to have a beer and all that. Or you are going to tell me that in this movie all Clar friends are goodlooking girls a no males? that seems a little bit wierd just saying.

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Outside_85

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Edited By Outside_85

@StMichalofWilson said:

By the way, I'm just going to put this out there: Why Jenny Olsen when there can be a Chloe Sullivan in the movie?

I'm just saying...

Because not everyone's watched Smallville and wouldn't even have the slightest clue about who she is and why she's important?

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EisforExtinction

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Edited By EisforExtinction

This seems like a pretty minor switch up.

I just hope they don't try and do a love triangle thing.

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Loki2u

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Edited By Loki2u

The movie is Man of Steel, not Fan of Steel. Who cares about Jimmy or Jenny? I just want a good Superman story, I could care less if Jimmy is in it or not.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

@EisforExtinction said:

This seems like a pretty minor switch up.

I just hope they don't try and do a love triangle thing.

Minor change? What would you say if Captain America's side kick was suddenly Becky Barnes or if Batman's servant was Andrea Pennyworth?