Supergirl Show News: Mehcad Brooks Cast As Jimmy Olsen

The news about the upcoming Supergirl show is coming fast and furious these days and it all seems to be spot on. The latest news came out late last night that Mehcad Brooks has been cast as Jimmy Olsen. It was big enough to get covered on the DC Comics website blog. Here is the link: http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2015/01/28/breaking-news-supergirl-casts-james-olsen

And a brief blurb from that press release:

Actor Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness, True Blood) has been cast as James Olsen in Supergirl, the high flying new series in development from Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. 
 

Supergirl’s James Olsen is described as a photographer at CatCo, the media company where Kara (series star Melissa Benoist) works. He has recently been living and working in National City, though the reason is still a secret.

 There is a lot to like about this casting. Brooks is an up and coming star who has shined in his prior roles and shows. Casting an African-American as Jimmy is brilliant. Sure, I will miss the classic red hair. But this adds some nice diversity to the show. And while he looks young, he is actually 34 making me think this isn't a copyboy Jimmy, or even a young hungry reporter. My guess is he is full-blown Mr. Action here, an established photojournalist.

The blurb about him working at CatCo and living in National City for a 'secret' reason gives him a decent hook. My guess is Jimmy is 'Superman's Pal' and Superman asked him to move to National City to keep his eye on Kara. And in those leaked audition tapes, we heard Jimmy talking about seeing Superman and covering the Man of Steel's actions for the planet. So he has some super-history. For me, that makes for a better story than Jimmy working undercover for the Planet. And it adds some Silver Age patina to the story - Superman keeping a close and sometime overbearing eye on his cousin.

The bottom line is I think Brooks is a great addition to this show. Welcome aboard.

And congrats to Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler.

I was cautiously optimistic about the show when it was first announced. (I worry about everything Supergirl.) But so far every move and everything I have heard about this show has made me smile. The casting of Benoist and Brooks is one thing. The tone of the leaked audition scripts is another.

I think this is going to be great!