HBO and James Gunn Officially Confirm New 8-Episode 'True Crime' Superman Spinoff

The DC Universe is growing with another Superman spinoff. In the wake of James Gunn and Peter Safran rebooting the DCU with 2025's Superman, we got this year's misfire Supergirl, and are getting a proper sequel in 2027's Man of Tomorrow. Now, the Superman family is growing again with a new comedy series coming to HBO Max: The People v. Gorilla Grodd. That's the mockumentary-style series that will follow the Daily Planet's Jimmy Olsen investigating a murder case that centers on a psychic gorilla accused of patricide.

HBO announced Friday that it has given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for the new half-hour comedy that will draw comparisons to shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and American Vandal.

Here's The People v. Gorilla Grodd's official logline:

A superintelligent ape 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.

Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role as Jimmy Olsen and will costar alongside Jimmy Tatro as Gorilla Grodd. A handful of Superman actors will also return to the DCU for The People v. Gorilla Grodd: Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. The series also stars Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz.

Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, who created American Vandal for Netflix, will serve as showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Yacenda is set to direct all episodes. James Gunn and Peter Safran serve as executive producers.

“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 in a statement. "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.”

"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. We hope it’ll appeal to fans of the comics, comedy and true crime. And while we can’t speak for audiences here yet, we already know it’s a huge hit in Metropolis. They love this series.”

DC Studios' Gorilla Grodd project was reported on late last year, and was described at the time as a series focusing on Daily Planet photojournalist Jimmy Olsen.

Who is Gorilla Grodd?

Gorilla Grodd was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in The Flash #106 in 1959. Grodd has appeared in multiple DC animated and video game projects over the past 50 years. The super-ape has also appeared in live-action in The CW's Arrowverse, originally in The Flash and later in Legends of Tomorrow. Grodd's most infamous live-action appearance features the gorilla traveling back in time to kill a college-aged Barack Obama. In that episode, Grodd actually says, "Time to make America Grodd again." Whether HBO's take on Gorilla Grodd can possibly top that remains to be seen.