Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen Investigates Gorilla Grodd in New DCU True-Crime Comedy
HBO Max is expanding the DC Universe with one of its wildest ideas yet. THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD has received an eight-episode, straight-to-series order, bringing several familiar faces from SUPERMAN into a half-hour comedy built around a true-crime documentary.
The Max Original series comes from DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television and stars Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen and Jimmy Tatro as Gorilla Grodd. Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault will serve as showrunners, writers and executive producers, with Yacenda directing all eight episodes.
James Gunn and Peter Safran will also executive produce.
Rather than approaching Gorilla Grodd through a traditional superhero story, THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD will treat one of DC Comics’ most famous villains like the subject of a prestige true-crime documentary.
What Is THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD About?
The series centers on the conviction of Gorilla Grodd, a superintelligent ape accused of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City.
Grodd has maintained his innocence after being convicted in one of Metropolis’ most infamous murder trials. Jimmy Olsen decides to reopen the case through an eight-part Daily Planet documentary investigating whether Grodd was actually responsible for the crime.
The fictional Daily Planet announcement describes Jimmy as receiving unprecedented access to interview Grodd inside Stryker’s Island Penitentiary. His investigation will feature new reporting from Daily Planet staff members alongside interviews with witnesses, experts, prosecutors and Grodd’s new legal counsel.
That setup gives the series an unusual place within the DCU. Instead of simply following superheroes and villains, it will explore Metropolis through its media and criminal justice system while presenting the entire story as something that could actually exist within the universe.
“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,” Yacenda and Perrault said. “A Daily Planet original documentary made for the people of Metropolis.”
The pair added that they hope the show appeals to fans of comics, comedy and true crime, joking that the documentary is already “a huge hit in Metropolis.”
SUPERMAN’s Daily Planet Cast Returns
Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role as Jimmy Olsen after appearing as the Daily Planet photographer in SUPERMAN.
He will be joined by several other returning members of the newspaper staff. Beck Bennett returns as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover reprises her role as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce is back as Daily Planet managing editor Perry White.
The returning ensemble further connects THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD to the world established in SUPERMAN while allowing audiences to spend considerably more time with characters who surrounded Clark Kent and Lois Lane at the Daily Planet.
“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,” Gunn and Safran said.
The DC Studios heads explained that the series will take audiences into some of the “darker and funnier streets and alleyways of the DCU” as Jimmy examines the Metropolis criminal justice system.
Jimmy Tatro Becomes Gorilla Grodd
Jimmy Tatro will take on the role of Gorilla Grodd, marking a very different interpretation of the powerful DC villain.
Grodd has traditionally been depicted as one of the most dangerous supervillains in the DC Universe. The hyperintelligent gorilla is closely associated with Gorilla City and is best known as an enemy of The Flash, frequently possessing telepathic abilities and ambitions that extend far beyond his hidden civilization.
THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD appears ready to play with those expectations by placing Grodd at the center of a murder mystery and asking whether one of the DC Universe’s notorious villains may have been wrongly convicted.
Amy Gravitt, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO and HBO Max Comedy Series, praised both of the show’s leads.
“We already know Skyler Gisondo is pitch-perfect as Jimmy Olsen and we can’t wait for fans to experience Jimmy Tatro’s captivating and hilarious portrayal of Grodd,” Gravitt said.
THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD Comes From the Creators of AMERICAN VANDAL
The involvement of Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault makes the mock-documentary approach especially fitting.
Yacenda and Perrault previously created the acclaimed Netflix series AMERICAN VANDAL, which used the visual language and storytelling structure of serious true-crime documentaries to investigate increasingly absurd mysteries.
THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD gives them a much larger playground for that style. A murder involving the royal family of Gorilla City can be treated with complete seriousness by Jimmy and his documentary crew while still embracing the inherent absurdity of investigating a talking superintelligent gorilla within the DCU.
Yacenda will direct every episode in addition to executive producing, writing, and serving as co-showrunner alongside Perrault.
THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD Full Cast
The series stars Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Jimmy Tatro as Gorilla Grodd, 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 announced ensemble.
THE PEOPLE V. GORILLA GRODD will consist of eight half-hour episodes and stream on HBO Max.
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Sean Tajipour
Sean Tajipour is the Founder and Editor of Nerdtropolis and the host of the Moviegoers Society and Reel Insights Podcast. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram @Seantaj.
