(SeaPRwire) –
By: Silas Sterling
DC fans have spent the last three years complaining about generic, formulaic spinoffs. A random viral clip of Gorilla Grodd crashing Obama’s college dorm from Legends of Tomorrow still circulates on TikTok every few months. Most fans wrote that off as a one-off weird gag from a show that got canceled for being too unhinged. No one expected that gag to tease the most interesting DC Universe project in development right now. The official casting leak didn’t even come from a DC press release, it dropped on Deadline last week to immediate chaotic fan reaction across Reddit and X.
The project in question is DC Crime, a Jimmy Olsen-hosted in-universe true crime mockumentary series. It’s being developed by Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the creators of Netflix’s cult hit American Vandal. Jimmy Tatro, who rose to fame making YouTube sketch comedy before playing Dylan Maxwell in American Vandal Season 1, is in talks to voice and play Gorilla Grodd. The series hasn’t received an official greenlight yet, but this casting news is the strongest sign it will get picked up soon. Season 1 of DC Crime is set to focus entirely on Grodd, just like American Vandal Season 1 focused entirely on Maxwell.
Gorilla Grodd first appeared in DC comics in 1959, as a recurring Flash villain. He got super intelligence and psychic powers after exposure to a meteorite, and has tried to take over the world dozens of times in canon. Most on-screen adaptations of Grodd paint him as a one-note, over-the-top villain with no real depth. Tatro’s casting seemed confusing to casual fans at first, but anyone who saw American Vandal knows how good he is at bringing nuance to seemingly one-note characters. He turned Dylan Maxwell, a class clown known for dumb pranks, into a layered, sympathetic portrait of misplaced anger and toxic masculinity.
DC’s recent franchise strategy has leaned heavily on safe, recognizable heroes and villains to drive box office returns. That strategy has flopped repeatedly, with multiple underperforming films and shows getting scrapped mid-production. Fan reaction to the Tatro casting has been 80% positive across fan forums and social media, per informal sentiment checks I ran this week. DC is clearly testing a lower-budget, niche-first approach to content that targets core fans instead of chasing broad, general audience appeal. This model is far cheaper to produce than big-budget blockbuster films, and has a higher chance of building long-term fan loyalty.
The only risk here is that Warner Bros. will water down the weird, unhinged edge that makes this concept work to appeal to advertisers. Fans don’t want a sanitized, family-friendly take on a psychic super gorilla accused of supervillain crimes. They want the same raw, crass, surprisingly heartfelt tone that made American Vandal a hit. If Warner Bros. execs interfere with the creative team’s vision, this project will get canceled before it even airs. If they leave the team alone, this could be the first DC content in years that feels like it was made by people who actually read the comics.
Author bio: Silas Sterling, veteran geek culture commentator and editor-in-chief of an independent superhero media digest.