Sara Gilbert Joins Gorilla Grodd Cast as James Gunn Confirms Its Superman Timeline Spot

The Daily Planet newsroom just got a little more crowded. Deadline reported this week that Roseanne and The Conners star Sara Gilbert has joined the cast of HBO Max’s The People v. Gorilla Grodd, the Superman spinoff mockumentary from DC Studios. Gilbert will play an unnamed but “important” journalist inside the paper, though her exact character has not been revealed yet.

A Growing Daily Planet Newsroom

Gilbert joins an already stacked ensemble built around the Daily Planet. Skyler Gisondo reprises Jimmy Olsen from James Gunn’s Superman, with Jimmy Tatro playing the title role of Gorilla Grodd. They are joined by Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White, alongside Mary Holland, Eduardo Franco, Arian Moayed, Dan Perrault, Andrew Leeds, and Tim Baltz rounding out the supporting cast. DC Studios marked the show’s announcement with a mock Daily Planet front page, styled as in-universe marketing for the documentary and promising “there’s a lot more to that primate.”

What Is The People v. Gorilla Grodd?

HBO Max handed the series a straight-to-series order for eight half hour episodes back in August, framing it as a faux true crime docuseries. Jimmy Olsen reopens the case against Gorilla Grodd, questioning whether the superintelligent ape was wrongly convicted of murdering his father, the King of Gorilla City, in one of Metropolis’s most infamous trials. American Vandal creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault serve as showrunners and writers, with Yacenda directing all eight episodes. James Gunn and Peter Safran executive produce through DC Studios alongside Warner Bros. Television.

Where It Fits in the Superman Timeline

Production began in Atlanta in early September, and for a while it was not clear how the show would line up with James Gunn’s two Superman films. Star Skyler Gisondo guessed it might play out somewhere between Superman and its upcoming sequel, but Gunn stepped in to set the record straight. Asked directly about the placement, he said “it’s after MoT and won’t come out until then,” referring to Man of Tomorrow, the next Superman film. That means Gorilla Grodd’s newsroom mystery is set after the events of Man of Tomorrow, and HBO Max will not release the series until after that film’s July 9, 2027 theatrical debut.

Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn’s Superman sequel, opens July 9, 2027, and now doubles as the release marker for The People v. Gorilla Grodd.

HBO Max has not set a release date for The People v. Gorilla Grodd yet, so Sara Gilbert’s mystery journalist and the rest of the Daily Planet newsroom will have to wait their turn behind Metropolis’s next big screen outing.

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Picture Source: Warner Bros. Discovery, DC