HBO Max Orders DCU Comedy ‘The People v. Gorilla Grodd’ Starring Skyler Gisondo and Jimmy Tatro

The Daily Planet is reopening one of Metropolis’ most infamous murder cases.

HBO Max has officially given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order to The People v. Gorilla Grodd, a new half-hour comedy from DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television that will expand the Daily Planet corner of the DC Universe introduced in James Gunn’s Superman.

Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role as Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, while Jimmy Tatro will make his DCU debut as Gorilla Grodd.

Rather than taking the form of a traditional superhero series, The People v. Gorilla Grodd will approach the DC Universe through the lens of a true-crime documentary.

According to the official logline, Gorilla Grodd has been convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City. Jimmy Olsen subsequently reopens the case for an eight-part Daily Planet “true” crime docuseries, investigating whether the superintelligent ape was wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials.

The premise appears designed to make the series feel like something that actually exists within the DCU rather than simply another story about its characters.

That approach comes from Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the creative team behind Netflix’s acclaimed true-crime mockumentary comedy American Vandal. Yacenda and Perrault will serve as writers, showrunners and executive producers on The People v. Gorilla Grodd, with Yacenda directing all eight episodes.

The series will also bring several familiar members of the Daily Planet staff back from Superman. Beck Bennett returns as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant and Wendell Pierce as Daily Planet editor Perry White. Additional cast members include Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds and Tim Baltz.

James Gunn and Peter Safran, who will executive produce the series in addition to their roles as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios, said the chemistry between Gisondo and the Daily Planet ensemble in Superman convinced them that this was an area of the DCU worth exploring further.

The pair said the series will allow Jimmy Olsen to take audiences into some of the DCU’s “darker and funnier” corners while examining the Metropolis criminal justice system through his documentary.

Yacenda and Perrault, meanwhile, described their goal as creating something that feels less like another entry in the DCU and more like an artifact that came directly from inside it — essentially, a Daily Planet original documentary created for the citizens of Metropolis.

HBO Max leaned heavily into that idea with its announcement, even releasing an in-universe Daily Planet notice announcing production of Jimmy Olsen’s documentary.

In the fictional release, the Daily Planet says Olsen has received unprecedented access to interview Grodd inside Stryker’s Island Penitentiary. Grodd was reportedly convicted in March 2021 of murdering and consuming the brain of his father, King Grodd, but has continued to maintain his innocence.

The documentary will revisit the investigation through interviews with witnesses, experts and representatives from both Grodd’s defense and the Metropolis District Attorney’s office.

It’s an unusual way to introduce Gorilla Grodd into the new DCU, but one that could give DC Studios an opportunity to explore its increasingly populated world without relying on a conventional superhero-versus-villain story. Pairing the concept with the creators of American Vandal also makes the true-crime format particularly fitting.

The project further expands the world established in Superman by shifting the spotlight away from its superheroes and onto the journalists and ordinary people living alongside them. If the finished series follows through on its creators’ stated approach, The People v. Gorilla Grodd could essentially allow audiences to watch a piece of media produced inside the DC Universe itself.

The People v. Gorilla Grodd is produced by DC Studios in association with Warner Bros. Television. James Gunn, Peter Safran, Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault serve as executive producers.

HBO Max has not yet announced a premiere date.