HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order for The People v. Gorilla Grodd, an eight-episode half-hour comedy set in James Gunn's DC Universe. The series is styled as an in-universe true-crime docuseries, produced by the Daily Planet, that reexamines the murder trial of Gorilla Grodd, a superintelligent, psychic gorilla convicted of killing his father, the King of Gorilla City, to take control of the throne.
Skyler Gisondo reprises his role as Daily Planet photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, who reopens the case to determine whether Grodd was wrongly convicted. Jimmy Tatro plays Gorilla Grodd, joined by returning Superman cast members Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. The cast also includes Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz.
Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, creators of Netflix's American Vandal, serve as showrunners, writers, and executive producers, with Yacenda directing all episodes. James Gunn and Peter Safran are also executive producers. In a joint statement, Yacenda and Perrault said they wanted the show to feel "less like an entry into the DCU and more like an artifact from it," comparing it to a Daily Planet original documentary made for the people of Metropolis. Gunn and Safran said the strong chemistry of the Daily Planet cast coming out of Superman convinced them this was a world worth exploring further, and that the series would take audiences "down some of the darker and funnier streets and alleyways of the DCU."
Gunn has said Gorilla Grodd was one of two projects, alongside Lanterns, that he pitched to Warner Bros. before officially joining the company, calling the finished series "truly special." The show is expected to draw comparisons to workplace mockumentary comedies like The Office and Parks and Recreation, as well as American Vandal's true-crime format.
Gorilla Grodd was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, first appearing in The Flash #106 in 1959. The character has since appeared in numerous DC animated projects, video games, and The CW's Arrowverse, including a widely noted Legends of Tomorrow storyline in which Grodd travels back in time to assassinate a young Barack Obama. The new HBO Max series arrives after Supergirl underperformed at the box office and other planned DC spinoffs were cancelled, with the DCU also expecting Man of Tomorrow in 2027.