Grodd is in the details. HBO Max has ordered the previously untitled Jimmy Olsen spin-off straight-to-series, according to a Warner Bros. Discovery press release. The project, which has been in production since the early days of James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Peacemaker) and Peter Safran’s (Heist, Creature Commandos) DCU, has been officially titled The People V. Gorilla Grodd, and will act as an eight-part mockumentary docuseries within the larger DC universe.
Per the official press release, The People v. Gorilla Grodd follows the story of “a superintelligent ape (that) is convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City. In an eight-part “true” crime docuseries, the Daily Planet’s Jimmy Olsen reopens the case, investigating whether Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials.”
The DCU’s iteration of the Daily Planet made its debut in last year’s Superman, where it served as both Clark Kent’s workplace and the site of his burgeoning romance with reporter Lois Lane. Grodd will primarily star Skyler Gisondo (Vacation, Santa Clarita Diet) as Jimmy Olsen, photojournalist and self-proclaimed “best pal” of the Man of Steel. Other returning cast members from Superman include Mikaela Hoover (Happy Endings, The Suicide Squad) as Cat Grant and Beck Bennett (Sing, Saturday Night Live) as Steve Lombard.
Meanwhile, actor/comedian Jimmy Tatro (The Hawk, The Machine) will lend his voice to Gorilla Grodd, a hyper-intelligent gorilla with psychic powers who most frequently serves as an antagonist to The Flash. Grodd is a member of a subspecies of gorillas who gained sapience from being experimented on by aliens, leading a mutiny against their creators and establishing a self-governing “Gorilla City.” The character’s most recent live-action appearance is in the CW’s Arrowverse, where he travels back in time to kill a young Barack Obama for exceedingly complicated reasons.
Gunn and Safran are excited to use Grodd as a vehicle to explore some of the wackier aspects of the DC universe. “Between Skyler’s wonderful performance and the fantastic chemistry of the Daily Planet cast,” a statement by the creators in the press release reads, “we knew coming out of Superman that this would be a fun world to explore. 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.”
The People v. Gorilla Grodd will premiere at an unspecified date on HBO Max.
