According to a fresh update via a new Writers Guild of America (WGA) production registry leak has seemingly unmasked the official final title for James Gunn‘s Superman mockumentary spin-off series: American Villain.
The project, which initially made waves under the since-debunked rumored title DC Crime, is moving forward aggressively at HBO, bringing a meta, comedic lens to the grounded underworld of Metropolis.
When news of a Daily Planet-centric true-crime anthology series first leaked, fans were rightly thrilled to see American Vandal creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault tapped as the showrunners. Titling the show American Villain is a direct nod to Yacenda and Perrault’s highly-praised Netflix series. It signals to the audience exactly what the tone is: a highly serialized, deadpan, high-production true-crime parody set within a world where super-crime is a daily reality.
Gunn famously went to bat on social media last year to state that the project had “never been titled DC Crime, even as a working title.” Perrault recently doubled down, teasing that they were actively “tossing around some names” that avoided standard superhero naming conventions. The WGA filing indicates they finally pulled the trigger.
Skyler Gisondo will fully anchor the series, reprising his breakout role as The Daily Planet’s resident photojournalist, Jimmy Olsen. Season 1 is locked to focus entirely on Gorilla Grodd, the hyper-intelligent, telepathic ape traditionally associated with The Flash’s rogues gallery and a member of the Legion of Doom
With writing teams actively logging work under the American Villain banner, the series is moving steadily through with a 2027 release looking increasingly likely.
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