DC Mockumentary Series Ordered
HBO Max Orders The People v. Gorilla Grodd Mockumentary from American Vandal Creators
Key Points
Expanded cast beyond the core lineup includes Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant and Wendell Pierce as Perry White, reprising Daily Planet roles, with additional cast Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Dan Perrault, Arian Moayed, Andrew Leeds and Tim Baltz in undisclosed roles.
Tony Yacenda will direct all eight episodes; he and Dan Perrault will serve as writers and showrunners, with James Gunn and Peter Safran as executive producers.
The project has been described as an HBO Max series, though some outlets are mapping it to HBO coverage, reflecting the Max rebrand.
Creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault previously created Netflix’s American Vandal, a detail highlighted in coverage of the project.
DC Studios has ordered The People v. Gorilla Grodd, an eight-episode comedy series for HBO Max that reimagines a DC villain's origin as a true-crime mockumentary ComicsBeat. The half-hour series stars Skyler Gisondo as Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, who reopens the murder case of Gorilla Grodd—a superintelligent ape convicted of killing his father, the King of Gorilla City MediaPlayNews. The straight-to-series order marks a tonal shift toward humor-driven meta storytelling within James Gunn's DC Universe.
Star-Studded Cast Expands Daily Planet Universe
Skyler Gisondo leads the series as Jimmy Olsen, with Jimmy Tatro playing Gorilla Grodd himself TVInsider. The Daily Planet ensemble returns with Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White ComicsBeat. Additional cast members include Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz in undisclosed roles.
Creators Behind American Vandal Helm the Project
Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, creators of Netflix's American Vandal mockumentary series, serve as writers and showrunners IGN. Yacenda will direct all eight episodes, establishing a consistent creative vision throughout the season. James Gunn and Peter Safran act as executive producers, embedding the series within the broader DC Studios strategy MediaPlayNews.
A Self-Contained Metropolis Crime Story
The series frames Gorilla Grodd's case as a standalone Metropolis mystery rather than a direct Superman sequel Yahoo. Jimmy Olsen investigates whether the superintelligent ape was wrongly convicted of his father's murder. The mockumentary format parodies true-crime docuseries while exploring DC lore, signaling that the DCU will embrace comedic spinoffs alongside its flagship films TVInsider.
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