For 60 years, heroes from the pages of DC comics have routinely sprung onto the big screen. The man of steel. The dark knight. The bluer beetle. Despite this half century in cinema, none of these collective cinematic universes have tapped into DC’s greatest resource: Gorillas. According to Variety, that all ends now, with the duo behind American Vandal assigned by HBO Max to create The People v. Gorilla Grodd.
“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,” writes showrunners Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault. “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.”
The People v. Gorilla Grodd will be an in-universe documentary series created by Jimmy Olson, with Skyler Gisondo returning as Superman’s best pal. A riff on true crime serials, Olson will reexamine the murder trial of Gorilla Grodd, accused of killing his father to take control of Gorilla City. With the Daily Planet masthead behind him, Olsen will work to discover if the psychic ape was set up.
Mockumentaries are a comfortable setting for Yacenda and Perrault. The two are responsible for Netflix’s cult hit American Vandal, another true crime pastiche about a teenager accused of defacing 27 cars with dick doodles. Vandal star Jimmy Tatro will also be joining the series as the voice of Gorilla Grodd. While this seems like a dependable goof-em-up, the Flash’s comic book nemesis is no joke. With gorilla grip and incredible psychic powers, Grodd is one of DC’s most dangerous supervillains, often anointing himself the Legion of Doom’s head honcho. He joins a menagerie of in-universe apes.
The anecdote goes that editor Julius Schwartz believed comics with gorillas on the cover sold exponentially better, instructing creators to introduce new apes whenever possible. Coming to terms with its delightfully camp characters is the edge DC stories have over Marvel. Yet outside of a memorable CW assassination attempt on Obama, Grodd, nor the Ultra-Humanite, Solovar, Monsieur Mallah, Congorilla, Sam Simeon, Titano, Detective Chimp, Gorilla Mob Boss, Mod Gorilla Boss, Ramjam, Tiny, Mogo the Bat-Ape, Beppo the Super-Monkey, Koko or King Colosso have appeared in any of these shared cinematic universes. Even Marvel grabbed this prize first, including the Red Ghost’s Super Apes in Fantastic Four: First Steps, despite cutting completed scenes with John Malkovich as the Red Ghost himself.
James Gunn, the sole reason I’m struggling to dismiss rumors about Brother Power the Geek in the next Superman film, says that the Grodd series was one of the first projects pitched to Warner Bros. when taking over their DCU. Right alongside the recent Lanterns miniseries, which may have helped loosen Grodd’s cage. Or the hype around a similarly named Looney Tunes feature film around the corner. This is amid the box office faceplant of Supergirl and cancellation of other spin-offs for HBO. Regardless, the DCU are finally unleashing their secret weapon. May the hairless world cower.