HBO Max has officially ordered a spin-off series to James Gunn's Superman movie, a mockumentary titled The People v. Gorilla Grodd that will bring back several characters from the film. The series has been greenlit for eight half-hour episodes.
Skyler Gisondo returns as Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet photographer, who temporarily steps away from his camera to investigate one of Metropolis's most sensational criminal cases.
At the center of that investigation is Gorilla Grodd, played by Jimmy Tatro, a superintelligent gorilla accused of murdering his own father, the King of Gorilla City. Jimmy Olsen reopens the case to determine whether Grodd was wrongly convicted, turning the show into a true-crime style production made from inside the DC universe itself.
Returning and new cast members
Several actors from Superman are set to reprise their roles, including Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. The cast will also include Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds and Tim Baltz.
A mockumentary format
The series, which does not yet have a release date, will lean into comedy and adopt a mockumentary format, presenting events as though they were a documentary produced by the Daily Planet itself. It comes from Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the team behind American Vandal, who will serve as writers, showrunners and executive producers, with Yacenda directing all eight episodes.
James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are also serving as executive producers, said the strong chemistry between the Daily Planet characters in Superman led them to consider there were more stories to tell with these characters. They said the intention is to explore the darker and funnier streets and alleys of the DC universe through Jimmy's investigation into the Metropolis justice system.
Part of DC's expanding slate
The new spin-off arrives as DC Studios, led by James Gunn and Peter Safran, builds out its shared universe across film and television. On the big screen, Superman performed well at the box office while Supergirl struggled badly, with Superman: The Man of Tomorrow and Clayface still to come. On the small screen, HBO Max's recently launched series Lanterns, which follows intergalactic officers John Stewart and Hal Jordan, has gotten off to a strong start.
