It's with a heavy heart that we bring you this news. Entertainment Weekly has just reported that James Olsen, played by the incredible Mehcad Brooks, will be walking away from the show in the first half of season 5. So far, it is not known how the character will be written off but the departure sounds like it was the actor's choice to pursue new opportunities in features films, music and writing. We wish Mehcad the best and hope that much like Jeremy Jordan's Winn Schott, this won't be the last time we see James Olsen. Showrunners Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner had this to say:
We love Mehcad and we’re sad to see him leave the show as a series regular, but we’re excited for both Mehcad and James Olsen’s future. He’ll always be a part of our Supergirl family and we look forward to James returning to National City at some point to visit his sister and his super friends.
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Comments
I also liked James in Season 1 when he was a valued friend of Kara's and it was interesting to see a different Olson than the twenty something "Gee whiz" character I was accustomed to. Instead we had an older mature Olson who was a calm, supportive friend to Kara.
Unfortunately the show lost focus with him after season 1 and the Guardian role just didn't fit. It got in the way of Kara who is supposed to be the star and hero.
Like everyone else I wish Mehcad well.
The real issue, I think, is that they chose someone too tall, probably not expecting to ever bring Superman on the show.
I recall that, when James finally met Clark, he sat down, so you wouldn't see the height disparity. But there should have been more interaction regardless.
Peace,
Gene
The producers and writers have been too concerned with meeting some kind of PC quota with their casting and storylines - especially over the past few seasons. The reason why the crossovers are so good is because they just put together very good Superhero episodes with good acting, good action and writing that is consistent with comic book lore.
They might tie his leaving in with the sale of CatCo; that would make sense.
Yes, I think that the writers' original plan was to have James be Kara's love interest. But there was never any on-screen chemistry between Melissa's Kara and Mehcad's James. It seems that the writers realized this right away, and put a stop to their supposed "relationship" (which always seemed forced) at the beginning of Season 2. And after that, there was never much for James to do on the show. I never thought that the "James as the Guardian" worked, and it was just another "hero" character that tended to take the spotlight off Kara, who should always be the star of the show.
But unfortunately they never were able to find a niche for James in the show because he, just like Maggie, Mon El and now Kelly were introduced purely as a love interest which limits the possibility of any real role and stifles development for said characters. Good luck, Mehcad in your next project.
I wish Mehcad all the best he was a great different Jimmy and will be missed dearly on the show.
Exactly. The minute Superman became an actual character in season 2James had no real at all. It’s crazy that James never had meaningful scenes with Clark/Superman. Not a one with Lois later either. All this history that was never explored.