James Gunn’s charming crowd-pleaser “Superman” kicked off the DC Universe in 2025, and now we’ve just had our first look at the next installment in the franchise. Photos from the set of Jimmy Olsen spin-off series “The People Vs Gorilla Grodd” show a fully practical Grodd on the campus of Atlanta’s Georgia Institute of Technology. It remains unclear whether the final version of the show will replace him with CGI or a combination of practical and CGI effects. For now, the practical Grodd suit has provided us all with some highly amusing set photos.
The shots come via AtlantaDCFans on X (formerly Twitter), with several images showing Grodd in smart attire, as well as a cap and gown, suggesting the series involves him graduating from college at some point.
EXCLUSIVE: First Look at Gorilla Grodd in The People Vs Gorilla Grodd pic.twitter.com/EX2fGv7ANn
— ATL DC (@AtlantaDCFans) September 9, 2026
The super-intelligent great ape can be seen standing on-campus surrounded by students in what is a surprisingly conspicuous shoot for the series. No green screens here. Meanwhile, DCFilmNews opines that the practical gorilla suit is a “placeholder” and will be replaced by CGI in the series.
In a separate tweet, the outlet posted a video and speculated that Grodd voice actor Jimmy Tatro could be heard speaking over a sound system. Since he’s only voicing Grodd in the series, it would make sense for the crew to play his lines over a speaker on-set, though this remains unconfirmed for now. Elsewhere, Home of DCU posted another set photo of Eduardo Franco, who’s thought to be playing Matter-Eater Lad, laying on a couch under an umbrella.
DC Studios has wasted no time shooting The People Vs Gorilla Grodd
Announced in November 2025, “The People Vs Gorilla Grodd” comes from the creators of Netflix mockumentary series “American Vandal,” Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault. In August 2026, the show was given an official eight-episode order by HBO Max, with Jimmy Tatro set to play the role of Grodd. James Gunn also confirmed the show would be the DC Universe’s “first foray into the true crime genre,” with Skyler Gisondo reprising the role of Jimmy Olsen alongside fellow “Superman” actors Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White.
The new series takes the form of a documentary directed by Olsen, who takes a new look at the case of Gorilla Grodd after he’s convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City. Per Variety, the official logline promises a show in which Olsen investigates Grodd’s case to determine whether he was “wrongly convicted in one of Metropolis’ most famous murder trials.” Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz are also set to appear.
The set photos confirm that, just a few weeks after its official announcement, filming is underway on “The People Vs Gorilla Grodd.” Thanks to some other candid shots from a Georgia Tech student on TikTok, it looks as though the college is standing in for Metropolis University, with several banners for the institution being hung around the real campus. The footage being shot at Georgia Tech could stand in as B-roll for Olsen’s documentary chronicling Grodd’s history in Metropolis. For now, though, all we know is that we’ll see a very sharply-dressed gorilla on campus.
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