To say that the fan journey with DC’s upcoming Jimmy Olsen tv collection has been, effectively, a journey can be one thing of an understatement. When it was first introduced in November 2025 {that a} spinoff of James Gunn’s Superman film centering round Skylar Gisondo’s Jimmy was within the works, followers have been intrigued. That intrigue deepened when it was introduced that Jimmy Tatro was approaching board as fan-favorite villain Gorilla Grodd, after which opinion shifted wildly once more when it was revealed that varied different in-development collection had been scrapped whereas Jimmy Olsen’s collection remained. As you would possibly guess, followers have been a little bit upset that Paradise Misplaced was out, however Jimmy remained. Nonetheless, issues are again on the uptick lately as set pictures for The Individuals v. Gorilla Grodd have emerged giving us our first take a look at Grodd within the collection and so they’re, effectively, they’re one thing.
The primary set pictures have provided up Grodd as realized in a totally sensible gorilla go well with which is one thing nobody actually anticipated, but it surely’s not simply pictures which were surfacing. There have been movies as effectively, revealing Grodd apparently performing as a part of an acapella group, serenading a girl (perhaps a girlfriend?), and most lately, performing LMFAO’s 2011 absolute banger hit “Occasion Rock Anthem.” It’s the sort of bonkers that nobody actually noticed coming even with The Individuals v. Gorilla Grodd being described as a mocumentary and a few have even gone as far as to match it to one thing you’d anticipate on The CW, not HBO and whereas that was most likely not meant as a praise I’m right here to let you know one thing: the comparability is completely proper and it’s additionally not a nasty factor in any respect.
The CW’s The Flash Bought a Lot Proper and The Individuals v. Gorilla Grodd is Proper to Embrace Elements of It
It’s straightforward to look again at The CW’s DC Universe — the Arrowverse principally, however all the DC-based exhibits extra broadly — and sort of take a look at the issues that didn’t precisely age effectively. As collection wore on, there was a decline within the high quality of CGI, closely repetitive plot components (significantly on The Flash), uneven tone, and issues acquired fairly cleaning soap opera-y. We’re not even going to get into Arrow’s fridging points. However one thing that the exhibits did get proper is that they did embrace quite a lot of very comedian booky components and this was very true when it got here to The Flash and its utilization of a few of the weirder characters from DC historical past.
The Flash did a incredible job of embracing the intense, bizarre, campy villains from DC Comics, not solely giving the dangerous man of the week format some taste but in addition bringing some true delight to display screen. King Shark? It was like having a loopy kaiju in Central Metropolis however the present gave him humanity. Rainbow Raider? Dude had some very bizarre powers however he was nonetheless a formidable foe. The Trickster? They acquired Mark Hamill, y’all. They even introduced in Gorilla Grodd. The Flash additionally did one thing else that by no means allow you to neglect that it was a present based mostly on comedian books at their absolute wackiest and that will be the musical episodes. Technically, there is just one official musical and that’s “Duet”, a crossover between The Flash and Supergirl. However there are a handful of episodes of The Flash the place we see completely different musical performances constructed into the story and so they depend. And so they’re nice.
That’s what the movies of Grodd singing have jogged my memory of: a mixture of the sunshine and shiny and delightfully odd components of comics that The Flash delivered to life so effectively when it wasn’t slowed down with Barry endlessly breaking the timeline. The stakes have been at all times actual, however there was nonetheless area for one thing rather less severe and that’s precisely the tone that Gunn’s DCU wants, significantly when bringing in a personality like Grodd. Comedian guide tales want whimsy for the extra severe components to essentially work and by giving The Individuals v. Gorilla Grodd an elevated model of Arrowverse The Flash power, the collection will inject precisely that into the DCU. The comics are all a couple of steadiness between severe and enjoyable, the perfect seasons of the Arrowverse embraced that, and these set pictures and movies make it clear that the DCU understands that as effectively. It’s making me extra excited than ever for this Jimmy Olsen collection. Apart from, gorillas promote comics and perhaps singing gorillas get folks to observe tv, too.