DC Studios Co-CEO Says Gorilla Grodd / Jimmy Olsen HBO TV Show Starts Shooting This Year
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has confirmed that the upcoming Gorilla Grodd / Jimmy Olsen HBO TV show will begin filming later this year. The announcement came during an interview with Brazilian content creator Good Nerd, where Safran was promoting the upcoming Supergirl movie and discussing the broader vision for the DC Universe (DCU) reboot.
Speaking about the future of the DCU, Safran hinted at plans to bring Batman into the rebooted universe through The Brave and the Bold, as well as a Justice League movie that will tie all the projects together. “We know eventually, you head in that direction,” Safran said of Justice League. “But we really are just talking about those movies that we've announced and those projects we've announced. Supergirl, Lanterns for HBO, Clayface this fall, Man of Tomorrow, Batman Part 2. You know we're going to do Brave and the Bold, which brings Batman into the DCU.”
Gorilla Grodd's Live-Action Return
“We've talked about the Gorilla Grodd show for HBO that we'll start shooting this year. That's big news, by the way. I probably shouldn't have said that!” Safran remarked.
Late last year, it was reported that DC Studios and HBO Max were developing a fictional true crime series set in the DCU called DC Crime. According to Variety, the series would look and feel like a true crime docuseries presented by Jimmy Olsen, with the first season focusing on Gorilla Grodd. Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisondo, was one of the breakout characters in last year’s Superman.
Gorilla Grodd, created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, debuted in The Flash #106 back in May 1959. He is a super-intelligent ape who possesses super strength and speed, as well as the powers of telepathy and telekinesis. He ranked 35th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains of all time.
Gorilla Grodd has appeared in various adaptations over the years. He was in the animated movie Batman Ninja and was a villain in NetherRealm's Injustice 2 fighting game. Grodd made his live-action debut in the Arrowverse’s The Flash as a major antagonist and later appeared as a supporting antagonist in Season 3 of its 2016 spinoff, DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
The Uncertain Future of the DCU
There is a degree of uncertainty about the DCU beyond next year’s Man of Tomorrow, which is currently filming for a summer 2027 release. Co-CEO James Gunn recently confirmed that the Booster Gold and Paradise Lost TV shows are still in development, but The Authority movie has been put on hold.
The Authority was one of the surprise projects announced as part of Gunn and Safran’s overarching Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters DC Universe reboot three years ago. At the time, Gunn described The Authority, which revolves around the infamously brutal superhero team of the same name from the WildStorm Universe, as a “big movie,” but it ran into significant issues.
The question remains: when will Booster Gold, Paradise Lost, and now Gorilla Grodd / Jimmy Olsen be released? Given Safran’s mention that Gorilla Grodd will actually begin filming this year, it seems closest to release. Right now, we have confirmed release dates for the HBO show Lanterns, movies Supergirl and Clayface, and the aforementioned Man of Tomorrow.
