HBO Max’s next DC Studios series is going for laughs. The streamer has officially ordered “The People v. Gorilla Grodd,” an eight-episode mockumentary centered on “Daily Planet” staffer Jimmy Olsen as he investigates whether the telepathic supervillain Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted of murder.
Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role as Jimmy Olsen from 2025’s “Superman,” with Jimmy Tatro taking on Gorilla Grodd, the superintelligent ape and sometime Superman nemesis. The show follows Jimmy as he directs and stars in a true-crime series probing “whether Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials,” per the logline.
The Daily Planet Crew Reunites
The series brings back a chunk of the “Superman” cast, including Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds and Tim Baltz round out the ensemble.
“The People v. Gorilla Grodd” comes from “American Vandal” creators Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, who serve as showrunners, with Yacenda directing every episode.
“Between Skyler’s wonderful performance and the fantastic chemistry of the Daily Planet cast, we knew coming out of Superman that this would be a fun world to explore,” said DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
The order arrives fresh off “Lanterns,” DC Studios’ darker series that premiered Aug. 16 to strong ratings and positive reviews on HBO and HBO Max. As part of the announcement, HBO Max teased a mock Daily Planet press release, including a Perry White quote musing that once you look beneath the fur, “there’s a lot more to that primate.”
Why It Matters
The pickup signals DC Studios’ strategy of balancing its gritty flagship shows with lighter, weirder fare, and it leans on the American Vandal team’s proven gift for deadpan true-crime parody. It also keeps the Superman corner of the DCU alive on the small screen between films. For Gisondo, reprising Jimmy Olsen turns a supporting turn into a starring one, and Tatro’s Grodd could become a breakout oddball villain. With Yacenda directing every episode, expect the series to land sometime in the next couple of years on HBO Max.
