Gorilla Grodd’s HBO Max Debut Just Got Even Stranger with New Set Photos

DC Studios is taking a very different approach with The People v. Gorilla Grodd. Instead of giving fans another standard superhero adventure, the upcoming HBO Max series is turning one of DC’s strangest characters into the center of a crime comedy. New set photos have now offered the first look at how the production is bringing Gorilla Grodd to life, although fans will have to wait for the finished CGI version to see the character properly.

The photos, shared by the source covering the production, show a stand-in being used during filming rather than the final version of Grodd. Since the character is expected to be created digitally, the person or figure seen on set is mainly there to help the actors and crew understand where Grodd will be during each scene. It also gives fans a small idea of how seriously the production is treating the unusual concept, even before the visual effects are finished.

At the center of the story is Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisondo. After appearing in Superman, Jimmy is getting his own much stranger adventure. This time, he is not simply working as a reporter at the Daily Planet. He is putting together a true-crime documentary that looks into the case of Gorilla Grodd, a superintelligent ape who has already been convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City.

The big question driving the series is whether Grodd was actually guilty. Jimmy decides to investigate the case and find out if the original conviction got the story wrong. That setup gives the show a completely different feel from most DC projects. Instead of spending every episode watching heroes fight villains, viewers will apparently follow a documentary-style investigation filled with interviews, strange characters, comedy, and plenty of questions about what really happened.

The idea makes even more sense because the series comes from Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the creators of American Vandal. That Netflix comedy became known for treating ridiculous fictional crimes like serious true-crime documentaries. The People v. Gorilla Grodd appears to be taking that same basic style and dropping it into the DC Universe.

Yacenda and Perrault are both working as writers, showrunners, and executive producers. Yacenda is also directing all eight episodes. Each episode is expected to run for around half an hour, which should give the series plenty of room for jokes without turning it into a traditional hour-long superhero drama.

The cast is also bringing back several familiar faces from Superman. Beck Bennett returns as Steve Lombard, while Mikaela Hoover plays Cat Grant and Wendell Pierce is back as Daily Planet editor Perry White. Jimmy Tatro is playing Gorilla Grodd, while Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz are also part of the cast in roles that have not yet been revealed.

According to a statement from James Gunn and Peter Safran shared with Variety, the decision to continue exploring the Daily Planet characters came from the chemistry they saw in Superman. The DC Studios bosses also pointed to Yacenda and Perrault as the right team to take Jimmy into a stranger and funnier corner of Metropolis.

That could make The People v. Gorilla Grodd one of the most unusual projects in the new DC Universe. The series does not appear to be trying to compete with huge superhero movies filled with giant battles and expensive action scenes. Instead, it seems happy to build its identity around a bizarre murder case, a reporter with a camera, and a talking super-intelligent gorilla who may or may not have been wrongly convicted.

There is still no official HBO Max release date for the series, so fans will have to wait a little longer before seeing the finished version of Grodd. For now, the new set photos are giving everyone an early look at a show that could prove just how far DC Studios is willing to push its new universe.

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