Los Angeles, American streamer HBO Max has ordered “The People v. Gorilla Grodd”, an eight-episode mockumentary series centred on Daily Planet staffer Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisondo.
The series, which will be a lighter-toned addition to the DC Universe, will follow Jimmy as he directs and stars in a true-crime show investigating whether Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials, the streamer said in a press release.
Actor Jimmy Tatro will play Gorilla Grodd, the superintelligent ape and occasional Superman nemesis.
Gisondo, who played Jimmy Olsen in the 2025 film “Superman”, will reprise the role alongside 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 also feature in the cast.
“The People v. Gorilla Grodd” comes from “American Vandal” creators Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, who serve as showrunners. Yacenda will also direct 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,” DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran said.
“We’re excited to work with the brilliant Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda to take the audience down some of the darker and funnier streets and alleyways of the DCU as Jimmy spotlights the Metropolis criminal justice system for his docuseries,” they added.
HBO Programming executive vice president and head of HBO and HBO Max comedy series Amy Gravitt said the streamer was excited to bring the DCU characters to the platform “in a new and unexpected way”.
The announcement follows the premiere of “Lanterns”, another DC Studios series, which debuted on August 16.
While “Lanterns” has a considerably darker tone, “The People v. Gorilla Grodd” will take a comedy-driven approach to the DC Universe.
Yacenda and Perrault said they wanted the series to feel less like a conventional DCU entry and more like a documentary produced within its fictional world.
“We’re excited by the challenge of creating a series that feels less like an entry into the DCU and more like an artifact from it, a Daily Planet original documentary made for the people of Metropolis,” they said.
The creators said the series aims to appeal to fans of comics, comedy and true crime, while joking that it is already a “huge hit in Metropolis”.
Yacenda and Perrault executive produce the series alongside Gunn and Safran. Warner Bros Television is the studio.
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