DC’s Jimmy Olsen & Gorilla Grodd Mockumentary Spinoff Just Got Its Official Title and Full Cast

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has been steadily expanding the world introduced in 2025’s “Superman” ever since the film hit theaters, building out a slate that stretches well beyond the Man of Steel himself. One of the more unexpected pieces of that expansion has been quietly developing behind the scenes since last year, built around one of the film’s most memorable supporting characters.

That project first surfaced in November 2025 under the working title “DC Crime,” described as a fictional true crime docuseries hosted by Jimmy Olsen. Fans have been waiting since then for confirmation that the show would actually move forward, along with details on exactly who would round out its cast.

DC’s “The People v. Gorilla Grodd” is officially set at HBO Max, with Skyler Gisondo back as Jimmy Olsen and Jimmy Tatro playing Gorilla Grodd. HBO Max has given the half-hour comedy an eight-episode order, with the official logline reading: “A superintelligent ape (Tatro) is convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City. In an eight-part ‘true’ crime docuseries, the Daily Planet’s Jimmy Olsen (Gisondo) reopens the case, investigating whether Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials.”

“American Vandal” creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault will serve as showrunners on the mockumentary series, bringing genre expertise that made their earlier true-crime spoof a genuine critical hit. That Netflix series won a Peabody Award for its first season and earned an Emmy nomination for comedy writing, and the pair went on to create the Paramount+ mockumentary “Players” before landing this DC project.

Tatro’s casting carries its own bit of thematic symmetry given his career history. The actor broke out in Netflix’s “American Vandal” itself, meaning he’s now stepping into a new mockumentary from the same creative minds behind the show that first put him on the map.

The series will also bring back several actors from the original “Superman” film reprising their roles, including Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. New cast additions rounding out the ensemble include Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz, along with Perrault himself appearing on screen.

Amy Gravitt, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO & HBO Max comedy series, expressed enthusiasm about the project moving forward, saying the studio couldn’t wait for fans to experience Tatro’s take on Grodd alongside Gisondo’s already well-received performance as Olsen. Gunn and Safran echoed that excitement, noting the strong chemistry among the Daily Planet cast members made this corner of the DC universe feel worth exploring further.

Yacenda and Perrault described their creative approach as aiming for something that feels less like a traditional entry into the DC Universe and more like an artifact pulled directly from within it, essentially a Daily Planet-produced documentary made for the fictional citizens of Metropolis themselves.

With a full cast now locked in and Yacenda and Perrault’s mockumentary pedigree already proven, “The People v. Gorilla Grodd” looks positioned to bring some genuinely different tonal territory to the DC Universe, expanding “Superman’s” world in a direction few fans likely saw coming when the film first introduced its version of Jimmy Olsen.

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