Breaking the Fourth Wall: She-Hulk in the Media

[tv echo]

Call My Lawyer | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 11, 2022

Spider-Man Wasn’t Allowed to Appear In Disney+’s She-Hulk (Exclusive)
By Benny Stein   August 11, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/spider-man-disney-she-hulk-exclusive 

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Speaking with The Direct's own Pamela Gores, She-Hulk series creator and head writer Jessica Gao talked about the wide range of characters the writers hoped to bring into the world of the show, acknowledging that "there were a lot of characters that were from the comics that we couldn’t use" because of either a "rights issue, or there were a few times where it was because Marvel:"

"There were a lot of characters from the comics– we wanted a lot of the comics for characters for fun situations where we could bring in like a character and think of like funny reasons why they would be in legal trouble. But there were a lot of characters that were from the comics that we couldn’t use either because of a rights issue, or there were a few times where it was because Marvel… all they would say is that they had other plans. And that’s all they would tell us. And then, we tried very, very hard to poke, and prod, and get a little bit more information. Of course, they wouldn’t tell us.
*  *  *
"But I will say, the one MCU character that really bummed out a lot of the writers in our room that we couldn’t use was Spider-Man and anyone involved around– like in the Spider-Man universe. Because we had so many Spider-Man fans in the room."

Daredevil's Disney+ Debut Won't Be as Dark as His Netflix Show (Exclusive)
By Benny Stein   August 12, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/daredevil-disney-netflix-show-exclusive 

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During a conversation with The Direct's Pamela Gores, Jessica Gao, series creator and head writer of Disney+'s upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, spoke about the approach taken with Charlie Cox's Daredevil.
*  *  *
"Well, first of all, we were shocked that we were able to use him. Like, when we first heard that he was on the table, I mean, we couldn’t believe it. We kept thinking like, ’Okay, at some point, someone’s gonna say ‘Just kidding.‘’ Like, ‘It’s a cruel joke, and you actually can’t have him.’ And it just kept going and kept going."
*  *  *
"And Charlie is so wonderful. He’s so game to do whatever, and he’s such a wonderful actor, and a wonderful human being. What was so fun about bringing him and Daredevil into our world is that people have already seen a Daredevil who is very dramatic, little bit on the heavy side, very dark, brooding."
*  *  *
"And it was so fun to be able to do–and we do this with every character cameo from the MCU–is we take them from the environment that you know them from, which is a much more dramatic and action-oriented role, much more on the serious side, and we bring them into our world and they get to play in the tone of She-Hulk. And they got to explore and we get to see a lighter side of that character."

Edited August 12, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Trouble | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 12, 2022

[tv echo]

She-Hulk Director: The Opening Episode Is 'Huge' in a Way That Was a First for MCU Vet Mark Ruffalo
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 13 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/13/she-hulk-huge-episode-1-two-hulks-director-kat-coiro/ 

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Disney+’s She-Hulk, premiering this Thursday, Aug. 18 with the first of nine half-hour-ish episodes, follows legal eagle Jen Walters (played by Orphan Black‘s Tatiana Maslany) as she accidentally becomes a Hulk akin to her cousin, Bruce Banner (Ruffalo).

The bulk of the first episode thus involves Bruce’s “Smart Hulk” persona schooling a reluctant Jen on how to live life as a sometime-Hulk — including big, green fighting techniques and, yes, the importance of reinforced bedroom furniture. That in-depth, cousin-to-cousin tutorial resulted in a bit of a first for MCU vet Ruffalo.

Asked by TVLine which was the “biggest” of the six episodes she directed, Kat Coiro said, “Well, the opening origin is huge, because we have two Hulks in long dialogue scenes, which is something that Hulks are not historically used to doing.”

As a result, “Mark [Ruffalo] definitely had an adjustment,” Coiro said, “because usually his Hulk is off on the sidelines, or in an action sequence, or has only a couple pages of dialogue. And this was five-page scenes.”
*  *  *
As a director, she said, “The biggest challenge of the whole series is honoring the comedy and allowing for those little loose moments and improvisation that we all love from shows like Sunny, for example, but also having it be visually impactful and fit into the MCU.

“Usually, comedy and big visuals don’t go together,” she noted, “so it was a real balance of blending those two worlds.”

MCU's Sokovia Accords Will Come Back Into Play In Phase 4 (Exclusive)
By Russ Milheim   Aug 13, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/mcu-sokovia-accords-phase-4-exclusive 

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Speaking with The Direct's Pamela Gores, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series creator and head writer Jessica Gao confirmed that fans should expect to hear more about the Sokovia Accords very soon:
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“Yeah. Well, this show will answer the question of whatever happened to the Sokovia Accords. It’ll happen later in the season, but you will get an answer to what actually happened to the Accords."

She-Hulk in 15 Seconds | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 13, 2022

Marvel Studios' She-Hulk Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 14, 2022

This July 21, 2022 Comic-Con panel included She-Hulk composer Amie Doherty:
SDCC 2022 - 8th Musical Anatomy of a Superhero Film & TV Composer Panel
Mulderville   Aug 14, 2022

Edited August 15, 2022 by tv echo

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:57 PM, AnimeMania said:

Tim Roth appears as Abomination.

Of course he does!

Unpopular, but I was hoping to also see some of the original raging beast Hulk.

Whaaat?

[Spartan Girl]

As long as we’re getting Abomination…even though William Hurt is dead, can we at least get some kind of mention that Dickweed Ross wound up exposed and court-martialed because Betty sold him out?

What? That’s a way better ending than that slimy hypocrite having the nerve to attend Toby’s funeral. Am I not allowed at least ONE thing I want from the MCU?!?

[tv echo]

When in the MCU Timeline Is She-Hulk Set? Head Writer Sheds Some Light...
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 15 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/15/when-she-hulk-set-the-mcu-timeline-after-shang-chi/ 

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In a recent Q&A with TVLine, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law head writer and executive producer Jessica Gao affirmed that the latest live-action Marvel series indeed takes place after the events of Shang-Chi — which in fact becomes clearer at the end of Episode 2.

She-Hulk is set “not too far” after Shang-Chi, Gao confirmed for TVLine. “It’s not, like, years later. It’s a relatively short amount of time.”

In the larger scheme of things, Shang-Chi is known to take place after Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but before Eternals, both Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man No Way Home, and Disney+’s Hawkeye.

She-Hulk DEFENDS Wanda In Court?! She-Hulk Star Tatiana Maslany On Her Big MCU Debut! Exclusive
Phase Zero   Aug 15, 2022

GLK&H Commercial | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainmet    Aug 15, 2022

Edited August 15, 2022 by tv echo

[Dandesun]

Jameela is giving me Alyssa Edwards in these Titania shots and I am here for it.

[AnimeMania]

(L-R) Jon Bass, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Tatiana Maslany, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Segarra, Patty Guggenheim and Griffin Matthews attends the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ upcoming new series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on August 15, 2022. 

[tv echo]

‘She-Hulk’ Head Writer on Reshaping the Pilot, Cutting CGI, and Steve Rogers’ Virginity
By Adam B. Vary    Aug. 16, 2022
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/she-hulk-steve-rogers-virginity-cut-scenes-1235342096/ 

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So what was your initial pitch for “She-Hulk”?
[She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao:] My pitch for the show is pretty close to the show that you’re watching. All the kind of key foundational elements were there: Emil Blonsky/Abomination was always in the pitch. Bruce was always in the pitch. I didn’t know if I could use them. I didn’t know what their relationship was to Abomination anymore. But I thought, you know what? This is what I want — so I’ll just pitch it. Thankfully, they liked all of it. When I went in, it definitely skewed a lot more heavily towards Blonsky’s trial. In my original pitch, it was an actual trial and it spanned multiple episodes. When we got into the writers’ room, inevitably things change as you’re developing the show and as you start writing. And one thing that we all realized very slowly was none of us are that adept at writing, you know, rousing trial scenes.
*  *  *
How did you approach the tone for this show, knowing you were making a light comedy in the middle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
I knew exactly the tone that I wanted for the show from the outset. My favorite type of comedy is taking a very high concept thing, like an extraordinary being who is a Hulk, and then grounding them in the minutiae of everyday life. That’s the funniest thing to me, taking an Avenger who just yesterday saved the entire universe from destruction, but today, on a Wednesday afternoon, they have to do laundry. On the weekends, they have to go see their mom for dinner or listen to their mom bitch at them about not giving her grandchildren. They have to pay their bills and clean their kitchen.
*  *  *
In an early episode, “Ally McBeal” is playing on a TV at a bar. Was that a touchstone for you at all, in life or for this show?
For the writers, it actually was not. We never really talked about “Ally McBeal” or referenced her. Because I would say most of our writers’ room was a little bit on the young side to have really known that show during its heyday. But yes, people can’t help but make the comparison to “Ally McBeal.” So “Ally McBeal” playing in the bar was a choice made during post-production.

Were there any other shows, legal or otherwise, that were inspiration beyond what we’ve talked about?
The other show that we talked a lot about in the writers room was “American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson.” That show did such a great fantastic job of covering not only a trial, but ins and outs of everything that was happening outside of the courtroom — the lives of all the people involved and the media scrutiny around it. All of that was just so well done.
*  *  *
Did anything else change?
The episode order was slightly different — we changed things up a little bit in post. Most of the pilot that you see was actually Episode 8. We waited until the very end of the season to really reveal her origin story.

That involves a lot of scenes of Smart Hulk training She-Hulk from the trailers. Did you feel you just needed to get there more quickly?
There were several factors leading up to the decision, but really at the end of the day, we just realized people really wanted to know that information sooner. It was hard for them to not know the origin story and then get to know this character.
*  *  *
In one episode of the show, Jennifer experiences how much more desirable she is as She-Hulk than as Jennifer. How did you want to just strike the balance between establishing She-Hulk’s strength as a massive six-foot-seven superhero, and how you wanted her to be perceived by the rest of the world?
A big theme of the show is identity. I believe that identity is not just how you view yourself and how you move through the world, but it’s also how the world perceives you and how the world treats you. Both of those things combined shape your identity and your sense of self. Jen Walters is in this unique position where she experiences both sides of that. She gets to retain her consciousness, but she can change into two completely different physical beings. The way she moves about in the world is different, and much more starkly, she gets to see in real time how differently the world treats her. It changes all of her relationships. It changes the way every single person on Earth perceives her and treats her, and she has to grapple with the idea of, I can see for reals that this person is treating me differently because of my physical body. That really does something to a person mentally and emotionally.

She-Hulk Video Q&A: Tatiana Maslany Talks Orphan Black VFX Comparisons, Previews a 'Tension' With Daredevil
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 15 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/15/she-hulk-video-interview-tatiana-maslany-orphan-black-daredevil/ 

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Speaking with TVLine in the video Q&A above (ahead of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s anticipated premiere this Thursday on Disney+), the Emmy winner notes that “Orphan Black certainly prepared me for a sense of, ‘How do you move through a very technical blocking and a technical performance requirement, but also have spontaneity and be in the moment and be present?’ That was definitely a great training ground for this.”

But the difference in doing/becoming a She-Hulk, she says, “is that there’s definitely a transformation that happens, but I don’t actually get to feel it, because I’m in this mo-cap suit,” wearing both a helmet cam that maps her facial expressions as well as a “second head” atop her own, to help co-stars with their eyelines.
* * *
The live-action Marvel comedy’s front woman then shares the No. 1 ProTip she gleaned from MCU vet/on-screen cousin Mark Ruffalo, who as Bruce Banner has been hulking out for a solid decade — “It was really a superhuman feat to witness an actor do,” she raves — before teasing best she was able the dynamic between her Jen Walters and fellow legal eagle Matt Murdock, when Daredevil’s path eventually crosses with She-Hulk’s on the new Marvel series.

After giving fans a provocative hint of what to expect from that meet-up, Maslany avows, “Charlie [Cox] was fantastic to play with.”

She-Hulk vs. Daredevil? Tatiana Maslany Teases a ‘Tension’ With Matt Murdock
TVLine   Aug 15, 2022

Media outlets got an advance screening of the first four episodes...

'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law' Early Reactions Call it a Delight and Cameo-Filled
BY ERICK MASSOTO   AUGUST 16, 2022
https://collider.com/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-reactions-reviews-is-it-good/ 

SHE-HULK FIRST REACTIONS (MOSTLY) RULE IN FAVOR OF THE MCU SHOW
by Michael Walsh   August 16, 2022
https://nerdist.com/article/she-hulk-first-reactions-critics-mostly-positive-about-disney-plus-mcu-marvel-show-tatiana-maslany-jennifer-walters/ 

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Early Buzz: Tatiana Maslany Shines In Bold MCU Series
BY ERIN BRADY   AUG. 16, 2022
https://www.slashfilm.com/965189/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-early-buzz-tatiana-maslany-shines-in-bold-mcu-series/ 

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law First Reactions Praise Tatiana Maslany & the Full On Comedy
BY JONATHAN FUGE   AUGUST 16, 2022
https://movieweb.com/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-first-reactions-praise-tatiana-maslany-the-full-on-comedy/ 

Edited August 17, 2022 by tv echo

[Raja]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:39 AM, Spartan Girl said:

As long as we’re getting Abomination…even though William Hurt is dead, can we at least get some kind of mention that Dickweed Ross wound up exposed and court-martialed because Betty sold him out?

What? That’s a way better ending than that slimy hypocrite having the nerve to attend Toby’s funeral. Am I not allowed at least ONE thing I want from the MCU?!?

Imagine if in the real world an army General got court martialed and then the next administration named him the Secretary of State. There would be little thought that he was exposed, but rather the old administration got exposed and the new guys in charge course corrected as the old General rose to higher heights.

And coming out of Iron Man 3, with the attempted assassination and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. setting up the ATCU with SHIELD serving as a behind the scenes force President Ellis who presumably nominated him as Secretary of State is a good guy.

[Spartan Girl]

12 minutes ago, Raja said:

Imagine if in the real world an army General got court martialed and then the next administration named him the Secretary of State. There would be little thought that he was exposed, but rather the old administration got exposed and the new guys in charge course corrected as the old General rose to higher heights.

And coming out of Iron Man 3, with the attempted assassination and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. setting up the ATCU with SHIELD serving as a behind the scenes force President Ellis who presumably nominated him as Secretary of State is a good guy.

Doesn’t make Ross a good guy.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

Doesn’t make Ross a good guy.

Perhaps but it is a hero's journey to come back from adversity to be sent to higher levels. It would take making President Ellis a big bad behind the scenes for General Ross to subvert the normal hero's journey trope.

[tv echo]

Red Carpet Best Moments | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Marvel Entertainment  Aug 18, 2022

Anger and Fear | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment  Aug 17, 2022

Size | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment  Aug 18, 2022

She-Hulk Writer Jessica Gao Talks Marvel’s First Comedy Series and Daredevil’s Return
Lauren Rouse   August 17, 2022
https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2022/08/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-jessica-gao-interview/ 

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That being said, Marvel did have one non-negotiable when it came to Daredevil.

“The one thing that I didn’t have control of was the suit. They knew exactly what they wanted the suit to look like.”

Edited August 19, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Spoilers if you haven't watched the first episode yet...

She-Hulk Recap: It's Not Easy Being Green — Grade the Disney+ Premiere
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 18 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/18/she-hulk-premiere-recap-season-1-episode-1-disney-plus/ 

She-Hulk Scene Solves Mystery of Captain America's Virginity — and the Answer 'Absolutely Is Canon'
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 18 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/18/captain-america-not-a-virgin-she-hulk-mid-credits-scene/ 

Edited August 19, 2022 by tv echo

[SnarkShark]

The predictable Wimmins-hating Troll Army emerges...

Some YouTube "reviews":

Usually the word " Woke" is prominent in the videos.

[tv echo]

Era Review | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 19, 2022

5 Smashing Stories from Behind the Scenes at She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
By Andie Hagemann    August 18, 2022
https://d23.com/5-smashing-stories-from-behind-the-scenes-at-she-hulk-attorney-at-law/ 

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Last week, Maslany, Gonzaga, Gao, and Coiro shared details on the new series with D23: The Official Disney Fan Club and other media outlets during a virtual press conference.
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“I think the beauty of television is—unlike the movies—we actually have time and space to really sit with a character and learn more about them and get to know them as a fully fleshed-out person,” Gao said. “[Maslany] was able to immediately make this [character] feel like a real human being. She has life experiences; she has relationships; she has a family; and she has friends. This is a real person who actually feels and processes things—and, like most people, has [daily] highs and lows.”
*  *  *
“What’s so interesting and different about Jennifer is that she maintains her sense of self,” Coiro said. “Yet, her sense of self is influenced by the way she presents when she changes; it’s a different way of walking through the world. This role required a nuance of performance that only Tatiana could give.”

Gao added, “I only knew [Maslany] as a dramatic actress, and she’s super funny!” The head writer shared the actress also has great instincts for characters and story. “There have been so many times where she pinpointed something that didn’t quite feel right, instinctively and also intellectually,” she said. “It forced us to work together to get it to a better place that was more real, smarter, and better. I’m eternally grateful.”
*  *  *
“Mark so open to whatever my process was coming to She-Hulk, he never was prescriptive,” she said. “One thing I did witness him do was a [kip up]. He was laying down on the ground outside as Bruce, and he got up as Hulk. It looked completely inhuman.”

Maslany continued, “I thought, ‘Oh, that is what 10 years of playing this character and physically embodying him, and like being so inside of him looks like. You get to do cool stuff like that.”

1. She-Hulk is unlike any other Super Hero in the MCU.
2. Maslany was the only choice to portray Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk.
3. Coiro was a fan of the She-Hulk comics as a kid.
4. Jennifer and Nikki’s friendship will make viewers green with envy.
5. Ruffalo brought sibling hijinks (and freakish flexibility) to set.

Edited August 20, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

The Evolutionary Theory of Tatiana Maslany
BY LAUREN PUCKETT-POPEPUBLISHED: AUG 17, 2022
https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a40907069/tatiana-maslany-she-hulk-interview/ 

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“I had always been wary of entering this [Marvel] universe or doing anything of this scale,” Maslany admits when we meet for the first time over Zoom. “There’s a part of me that always feels a bit more comfortable in a smaller piece. Just something that I can guarantee will be focused on character, guarantee will be collaborative.”

Her She-Hulk audition arrived “at this very raw, very interesting time for her,” says her best friend and Arrow actor Ben Lewis, who’s known her since they met in the early aughts on the set of the misguided Rob Lowe-led film Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming. (Lewis is reluctant to even name the film, but acknowledges Google maintains its existence.) When, during the height of the pandemic, Maslany told Lewis she planned to audition for She-Hulk, the idea of the 5’3” Maslany in a cape and tights—perhaps worse, as a derivative of the Incredible Hulk—seemed “incongruous” at best, Lewis says.

“To know her and to know her personal taste, it didn’t necessarily seem like something that would make sense. Or that she would want to do,” Lewis says. “But the thing about Tat is she loves a challenge more than anything.”

Maslany was enamored with Jessica Gao’s script, which envisioned Jen Walters as a reluctant comedy heroine akin to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, unhindered by the psychological warfare of Jen’s cousin, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner. With key nods to John Byrne’s Sensational She-Hulk comics run, Gao’s Walters would be as hesitant about the superhero lifestyle as Maslany herself, though her humor would grant her the opportunity to, say, muse on the status of Steve Rogers’ virginity. And her unanticipated transformation into a warrior the color of steamed broccoli meant Maslany could inhabit a completely foreign body, a prospect she relished.

“It just spoke to me in a way that I was like, ‘I don’t know that I can do this,’” Maslany says. “And that’s exciting to me.” She mourned whatever remaining anonymity she might be giving up; a hit at BBC America and a hit at Marvel Studios are two very different beasts. “I don’t know that I was like, ‘I can take everything that comes with this,’ but I definitely was like, ‘This work will be interesting enough to me to warrant a little bit of a shift in my life if that’s what happens. And if not, great.’”

Little doubts sprinkled the path. When footage from She-Hulk was first released to the public, criticism over the seemingly shoddy CGI overshadowed any praise for Maslany’s performance, making the series seem—like some other Marvel projects that will remain unnamed—a superfluous cash-grab. But after watching the first four episodes of She-Hulk, I can confirm the show was worth Maslany’s gamble. The legal comedy format is refreshing on its own, but it’s Maslany’s delivery in particular that rescues what might have been a zealous idea lost in the assembly line of Marvel’s Phase Four. Maslany, charming and deft with an intoxicating grin, is such an obvious star it’s a bit baffling Marvel took this long to snag her in the first place.
*  *  *
“It’s such a chosen body. So, it asks for commentary,” Maslany says. “There’s something interesting in everyone’s ownership over that image. Obviously, I have no say over how she presents. But I do think we are thirsty for women’s bodies that don’t conform to an idealized feminine image. And that the musculature of She-Hulk could have been a really interesting, revolutionary thing to see.” She adds, “I feel supportive of that idea. But I’m also like, ‘Okay, but why do we all have say in [her body]?’”
*  *  *
But herein lies the irony. Maslany wanted to do—wants to do—She-Hulk. Desperately. She loves Jen Walters, the wink of the legal comedy, even the idea of leading the Avengers one day, should Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige proclaim it so. (“It would be thrilling,” she tells me, expressing particular pleasure at the idea of working with Yelena Belova actress Florence Pugh. The odds look good.) Maslany is what Gonzaga calls a “chameleon actor,” so adept at twisting their form the audience forgets their new shape is “completely different than what they did last time.” She craves the challenge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe held aloft by She-Hulk’s beefed-up biceps. But she can just as easily disappear into something and someone else entirely, something obscure and unexpected and maybe even controversial—like the wife of the man who wrote Lolita.

‘She-Hulk’: The Creative Team On Merging a Comedic “Lawyer Show” With the MCU
BY RACHEL PAIGE   AUGUST 19, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/she-hulk-comedy-lawyer-show-disney-plus 

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Head writer Jessica Gao has long loved She-Hulk and has been working for years to get her into the MCU, even before the character was ready to join the MCU. Way back when, Gao actually pitched on Black Widow during its development stage, and put Jen Walters in the movie, too.

“I had She-Hulk in my Black Widow pitch and [Marvel] was like, ‘It kind of feels like you're trying to pitch a She-Hulk movie with Black Widow in it,’” Gao recalls with a laugh. “I was like, guilty! So big shocker, they didn't hire me for that. When I didn't get the job, I said, just so you know, She-Hulk is my favorite character, obviously. If you ever do a She-Hulk movie, you have to call me.”

Fast forward a few years and Gao, who’s background is in TV comedies, happened to catch word of what was happening at D23 Expo 2019. “[Marvel Studios President] Kevin [Feige] announces that not only are they doing a She-Hulk project, but it's going to be a TV series, my entire background is TV comedies! I was like, oh my god, they didn't call me!”

Thankfully, two days later her phone rang. “They called me and said, do you want to pitch on She-Hulk? And I said, yes, of course. Of course I want to pitch on She-Hulk.”

Right from the start, Gao had “a very clear sense of what type of show I wanted it to be…I knew the exact kind of comedic tone that I wanted for the show.” Half lawyer, half Hulk, all around hilarious. Because honestly, what isn’t funny about a Hulk trying to practice law for other Super Heroes?
*  *  *
“There was so much talk about what was different [in the show] that part of my job was to keep the project within the world of the MCU,” she continues. “We obviously are exploring themes and we're exploring tone and we're exploring very everyday comedic moments, but we still need it to feel like it's part of the MCU.”
*  *  *
“I think the idea that we are in this world where the superhuman law firm exists and any existing character from the MCU can organically come into the picture and it won't feel like a gratuitous cameo. It feels like, hey, even Super Heroes need legal help. I just love the possibilities of that, and we see a lot of them come through the doors of the law firm.”

She-Hulk director breaks down Jen's moving monologue about female rage in episode 1
By Amy West published 4 days ago
https://www.gamesradar.com/she-hulk-episode-1-jennifer-walters-monologue-female-rage-kat-coiro-interview/ 

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"I think the best way to drive things home is through humor and to not feel like we're teaching everybody a lesson, but rather expressing something that is true in an engaging way that makes people think about it afterwards," Coiro states when asked about the speech. "The conversations about rage and what it means to be a woman walking through the world were front and center for all of us at the helm.

"What does it mean to be a woman walking down a dark alley at night? What does it mean to be a woman getting hit on at a bar by someone you have no interest in, but feel like you have to be polite because you're scared for your safety? What does it mean that we have all this history of superheroes reaching rage level 10? What happens when our girl shows rage? How is that perceived by the world?' These conversations were definitely a part of the show from its inception. But the fact that it's a comedy and it's entertaining, and all of this is explored through undertones is what I think makes it effective in showing people the world through the female lens." 

She-Hulk director on how they captured Bruce and Jen's island-wrecking fight
By Amy West published 4 days ago
https://www.gamesradar.com/she-hulk-bruce-jen-fight-kat-coiro-interview/ 

Quote

"The philosophy with the VFX is always to capture as much of the actor's genuine reaction as possible, so every beat of those scenes, we acted through – and a lot of that episode was influenced by Mark [Ruffalo] and Tatiana's organic performance," the Marry Me filmmaker tells Total Film. "One thing you can't do is direct chemistry and as soon as I saw them together, I knew my life was going to be a lot easier because they have this incredible playfulness that's really natural. 

"We had them do everything," she continues. "Are they leaping ten feet? No, but we'd have them jump as far as they could and bring all that intensity because what makes a great action scene is following the characters' emotional arc through the action scene. Everything else is icing on the cake, really."

She-Hulk director says we haven't seen the last of those Captain America virginity gags
By Amy West published 4 days ago
https://www.gamesradar.com/she-hulk-captain-america-virginity-gags-kat-coiro-interview/ 

Quote

"It's something that comes back, that's all I'll say," Coiro teases in an interview with Total Film, when asked about Jen's amusing fixation with Rogers' alleged virginity. "One thing I love about Marvel is that everyone involved really listens to the fans, and takes in their wishes and desires. I think it's what makes the MCU so strong.
*  *  *
"The writers definitely had their fingers on the pulse about what people were talking about online, and we were able to address all that because the show has that fourth wall-breaking element. The show is very meta and conscious of what's going out into the world regarding the MCU, so that's a direct reflection of the writers' involvement with the internet."

Edited August 22, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

She-Hulk Is a Bonafide MCU Hit, Doubling Ms. Marvel's Audience
BY LEE FREITAG   AUGUST 23, 2022
https://www.cbr.com/she-hulk-mcu-hot-doubles-ms-marvel-audience/ 

Quote

Samba TV has reported that 1.5 million U.S. households in the Live+3 window watched the premiere episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which is more than double the 662 thousand viewers who tuned in for Ms. Marvel's first episode. "Disney+ delivered hulk-sized viewership with the premiere of its latest Marvel program She-Hulk," stated Cole Strain, Vice President of Measurement Products at Samba TV. "While recent female-led superhero series have been marked by lower viewership, or in the case [of] Batgirl, were canceled altogether, She-Hulk reversed this trend, more than doubling the premiere weekend viewership of the most recent Marvel series, Ms. Marvel, and delivered numbers on par with Moon Knight. Stars like Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo helped make this a big hit with Gen-Z millennials, Black, and Hispanic households that all over-indexed in their viewership."

(source)

Edited August 24, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/22/2022 at 11:01 AM, tv echo said:

She-Hulk director says we haven't seen the last of those Captain America virginity gags

Oh, for Fuck's SAKE!🤬

[Sakura12]

Yeah, if it was one off joke. Fine. But not a continuing one. 

[shapeshifter]

34 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

Yeah, if it was one off joke. Fine. But not a continuing one. 

I presume (spoiler tagging in case I am right)

Spoiler

the "joke" is a clue that leads to a "stunning" reveal of Jen's parentage, 

but they *really* should have gotten some non-writers' reactions before they ran with it.
I am now imagining @GHScorpiosRule sitting in the preview test audience emphatically pounding the theater seat armrest and almost yelling: Nope! Nope! Nope! Oh Hell, Nope!
and the writers would have gone back to the drawing board on that one.
I can only guess they were worried about the 

Spoiler

final reveal (if there is one)

being spoiled.
*Le sigh*

Edited August 24, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Sakura12]

51 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I presume (spoiler tagging in case I am right)

  Reveal spoiler

the "joke" is a clue that leads to a "stunning" reveal of Jen's parentage, 

but they *really* should have gotten some non-writers' reactions before they ran with it.
I am now imagining @GHScorpiosRule sitting in the preview test audience emphatically pounding the theater seat armrest and almost yelling: Nope! Nope! Nope! Oh Hell, Nope!
and the writers would have gone back to the drawing board on that one.
I can only guess they were worried about the 

  Reveal spoiler

final reveal (if there is one)

being spoiled.
*Le sigh*

She

 

was talking about his ass and how hot he is. That would be kind of gross then. This isn't Game Of Thrones. Lol

They already have spec that Steve is Starlord's grandfather, since they used the same actress as a girl Steve met in the 1940's and Starlord's mom.

[AnimeMania]

[arc]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I presume (spoiler tagging in case I am right)

Probably not. Gao had said they originally had this joke as a runner throughout the season. Maybe they still do. She's a comedy writer, who hired mostly comedy writers for the writers' room. Not everything is gonna be an epic reveal for the season finale.

[AimingforYoko]

The awkward family dinner:

I don't recognize Jen's dad, he looks like a perfect stranger to me. Aaaand I'll see myself out.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

The awkward family dinner:

I don't recognize Jen's dad, he looks like a perfect stranger to me. Aaaand I'll see myself out.

At first I thought you meant

Balki

, but then I watched the clip. I feel the same way!😆😆😆😆

[tv echo]

Includes spoilers for Episodes 1 and 2...

Did She-Hulk Just Set the Stage for 'World War Hulk'? Head Writer Teases the 'Possibility' for... Something
By Matt Webb Mitovich / August 25 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/08/25/world-war-hulk-movie-tease-she-hulk-episode-2-bruce-returns-sakaar/ 

Spoiler

In Episode 2 of Disney+’s She-Hulk, Bruce Banner bid his cousin Jen Walters farewell, as he embarked on a cosmic journey that might, just might, culminate in a live-action take on the World War Hulk comic book storyline.

She-Hulk first teased Bruce/Smart Hulk’s out-of-this-world journey mere minutes into its Aug. 18 series premiere, when the cousins’ road trip was very literally detoured by a low-flying Sakaaran Class-Eight courier craft. (Sakaar, remember, was the planet ruled by Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.)

In that episode, Bruce later surmised to Jen that the Sakaaran ship was “probably trying to deliver a message,” adding: “I gotta get to the bottom of that.”
*  *  *
In Episode 2 of She-Hulk, it became evident that Bruce had made some progress in “getting to the bottom of that,” seeing as when he checked in on Jen, he was, well, no longer at his Mexico hideaway.

Or on Earth, for that matter.

“You coming to L.A. anytime soon?” Jen asked her cousin over the phone. Bruce as Smart Hulk answered, “Yeahhhh, probably not for a minute. I’ve got some things I gotta take care of” — which became especially clear as the camera pulled back to reveal that he was now camped out in the back of that Class-Eight courier craft, as it zoomed into the cosmos.
* *  *
Hulk’s possible return to Sakaar at the very least hints as a seed being planted for a live-action take on the comic books’ World War Hulk storyline, which kicked off in 2007 and was written by Greg Pak.
*  *  *
TVLine asked She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao if Bruce’s excursion was simply a (very specific) way to write Ruffalo and his character off the canvas, or was it also designed to serve a larger purpose in the future MCU?

“A big part of it is [Mark] did what he came to do on the show, and we wanted to make sure that people knew, ‘Don’t expect him to be in every episode from here on out.’

“But also,” Gao added, “I think it kind of opens up the possibility, if Marvel chooses to, to do something with that, to pick up that story. If they wanted.”

Gao has also confirmed, in an interview with The Direct, that Bruce likely has unfinished business on Sakaar, saying, “God knows what Hulk got up to in the years he was there, so he’s gotta go back and handle some off-world things that happened during that time.”

‘She-Hulk’: Mark Ruffalo on Stepping Back Into Hulk’s Big Shoes
BY RACHEL PAIGE   AUGUST 25, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/she-hulk-mark-ruffalo-bruce-banner-disney-plus 

Spoiler

Bruce in the ship was actually the first scene Ruffalo filmed for the series, with Coiro adding, “That's where you really feel the weirdness of creating a CGI world because it was Mark in the suit at a little fold-up table on a fold-out chair without even a proper camera shooting him. But he's so engaged and he knows the drill and he made the scene alive even in that circumstance, in a big box with fluorescent lights.”

And if you’re looking for an explanation as to what’s next for Bruce, you’re not getting it. “We don't explain it, because it's She-Hulk show,” head writer Jessica Gao adds with a laugh. But, she is willing to tease that as viewers, we’ve only ever seen “a little sliver of what he was up to” last time Bruce was in space. 

Previously On | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 24, 2022

Official Clip | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 24, 2022

[tv echo]

Green Things Challenge | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 26, 2022

[Spartan Girl]

On 8/22/2022 at 11:01 AM, tv echo said:

She-Hulk director says we haven't seen the last of those Captain America virginity gags

On 8/24/2022 at 8:57 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Oh, for Fuck's SAKE!🤬

SERIOUSLY. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 8/22/2022 at 11:01 AM, tv echo said:

She-Hulk director says we haven't seen the last of those Captain America virginity gags
By Amy West published 4 days ago
https://www.gamesradar.com/she-hulk-captain-america-virginity-gags-kat-coiro-interview/ 

Y'know, I really thought we evolved from that gross phase of speculating about celebrities' virginities from 20 years ago... but I am once again proven embarrassingly wrong.

Now we just speculate about fictional characters' virginities... which is every bit as wrong and creepy!!!!

Edited August 27, 2022 by Wiendish Fitch

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Y'know, I really thought we evolved from that gross phase of speculating about celebrities' virginities from 20 years ago... but I am once again proven embarrassingly wrong.

Now we just speculate about fictional characters' virginities... which is every bit as wrong and creepy!!!!

It also pisses me off because it’s a bitter reminder of how the MCU butchered Steve and his relationships, vastly different in the comics. I’ll leave it at that.

If they want to rewrite him as a monk who was saving himself for his Dream Girl in the Compass (which was more or less what Peggy became), whatever, but don’t keep cracking jokes about it. 

[Fukui San]

Dan Slott, writer of the second major She-Hulk run, posted this tweet which is a hilarious illustration of the way She-Hulk's titles were written to that point. We need to recap the two major runs in order to fully understand what's going on.

In the first run, The Sensational She-Hulk, Jen breaks the fourth wall constantly talking to the reader for meta-humor value.

In the second run, just titled She-Hulk, Jen doesn't break the fourth wall (except for this joke). It's more of a what if a TV legal comedy but one lawyer is a Superhero. But they establish that in the Marvel Universe superhero comics are nonfiction and legally admissable as evidence in court. Thus, the firm in which Jen works has a guy whose job it is to maintain comics collections for legal reasons. See the long boxes on the floor in the inset.

Two completely separate types of comedy in one page.

[tv echo]

The Cast & Crew of Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | What's Up, Disney+
Disney Plus   Aug 27, 2022

[tv echo]

Forced to Leave | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 31, 2022

Hulk Smash or She-Hulk Smash? | Ask Marvel
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 31, 2022

The Story Behind She-Hulk's 'Dream Come True' Cameo/Dance Party: 'That Is All Tatiana Twerking, 100 Percent'
By Matt Webb Mitovich / September 1 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/09/01/megan-thee-stallion-she-hulk-cameo-episode-3-twerking-dance-party/

Quote

The following spoils a surprise cameo from the Sept. 1 episode of Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
*  *  *
The latest episode of the live-action MCU series saw Jen Walters’ douchey former colleague, Dennis, take an Asgardian shapeshifter to court. His complaint? The shapeshifter of a certain age had catfished him into a relationship with who he thought was rapper Megan Thee Stallion. (He even paid off her Passat! Wait, her Passat?) Though as Jen repeatedly contended, Dennis had no business believing the Megan Thee Stallion was in his league.

After Jen helped Dennis win his case (by delivering testimony that spoke to his stupefying lack of self awareness), we glimpsed the actual Megan Thee Stallion — whose supposed-to-be-a-surprise cameo got spoiled earlier this week — cheering from the courtroom gallery.
*  *  *
MTS’ appearance would not be limited to just that one cutaway, though. For in the mid-credits bonus scene, Jen-as-She-Hulk (played by Tatiana Maslany) shared an office dance party with the rapper, leading to bountiful, side-by-side twerking.

“The dancing was actually added to the script on the day, because Tatiana was so excited,” Kat Coiro, who directed Episode 3, shared with TVLine. “She’s the world’s biggest Megan Thee Stallion fan and we were like, ‘We’ve gotta give her something,’ so they threw together this dancing scene.”

“Yeah, that was me! That was all me,” a laughing Maslany told us of her role in bringing the She-Hulk dance party to life. Sharing such a moment with Megan Thee Stallion, she added, “was a dream come true.”

“It was like one of my absolute top moments on set, of anything I’ve ever done,” the Emmy winner avowed. “I was shaking and I was nervous, and then the music played and I was like, ‘I’m in a Megan Thee Stallion music video!'”
*  *  *
And to be clear, though it was the 6-foot-7 She-Hulk shaking what her momma (…and some gamma-radiated blood) gave her, on set it was the 5-foot-4 Maslany shimmying whilst wearing her motion-capture suit.

“Yes, she’s a CGI character in that [scene],” director Coiro notes, “but that is all Tatiana twerking, 100 percent.”

Edited September 2, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Cameos | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Sep 2, 2022

[tv echo]

Summer TV Winners & Losers: Epic Fantasy, Late-Night Diversity, Marvel, OMITB, The Boys, The Bear and More
By Team TVLine / September 5 2022
https://tvline.com/lists/summer-tv-winners-losers-best-worst-shows-decisions/

Quote

🤷🏻‍♀️ DRAW: Marvel
...
... And She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has ably served up the MCU’s first live-action comedy series. But both series launches have had loom over them the dark cloud that is Marvel’s alleged overworking of its visual effects houses, effectively tainting our enjoyment of these ambitious endeavors.

[tv echo]

She-Hulk's BFF Ginger Gonzaga Talks About That Surprising Titania Threat, Promises 'Hot Legal Action!' Ahead
By Matt Webb Mitovich / September 8 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/09/08/she-hulk-recap-episode-4-ginger-gonzaga-titania-lawsuit/

Quote

The following contains spoilers from the Sept. 8 episode of Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Matcher | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Sep 7, 2022

[AimingforYoko]

Mid-season sneak peek:

Our first look at Matt, who is in L.A for...?

[tv echo]

She-Hulk Digs Daredevil, Matt Murdock Gives Jen a Pep Talk, in New Trailer
By Matt Webb Mitovich / September 9 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/09/09/she-hulk-daredevil-matt-murdock-meet-midseason-trailer/ 

Quote

“This guy is really kind of doing it for me,” She-Hulk says of fellow superhero Daredevil, in a new midseason trailer for the Disney+ series.

Marvel’s Daredevil vet Charlie Cox also appears in the teaser as the milder-mannered Matt Murdock, who tells fellow legal eagle Jen Walters (played by Tatiana Maslany) that she is “in a unique position to do some good.” (Cox of course is set to play the Man Without Fear full-time again, in Daredevil: Born Again, which is on track for in Spring 2024 Disney+ premiere as part of the newly detailed Phase 5 of the MCU.)

Exactly when, during the nine-episode season, Cox first shows up has yet to be revealed. But Kat Coiro, who directed the first four episodes as well as Episodes 8 and 9, told TVLine that one of her “biggest” episodes involves “a certain someone who comes in later in the season, and it’s a pretty big episode.” (We in turn asked Coiro if she in fact directed a Daredevil episode, but she hedged, “I will never tell.”)

Edited September 10, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Sham | Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment  Sep 14, 2022

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

[tv echo]

She-Hulk's Jameela Jamil: Madisynn Should Be in Every MCU Project — Plus, Is Titania a Villainous Misdirect?
By Matt Webb Mitovich / September 17 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/09/17/she-hulk-jameela-jamil-interview-titania-villain-madisynn/  

Quote

Speaking with TVLine in the video above, Jameela Jamil spilled no specifics on the superpowered influencer’s next move, but she did affirm, “We will stay true to one thing in particular about Titania that has existed from the first time she came out of the gate in 1984, which is: Her insecurities and her ego will continue to be at the forefront of every single thing she does and says.
*  *  *
“She is always trying to get over her childhood of being bullied,” Jamil explained. “So everything is an opportunity for victory for her…. She is so annoying.”
*  *  *
But is Titania more than an ambitious influencer? Is she indeed poised to be if not the Big Bad of She-Hulk, any kind of big bad?” Jamil (colorfully) addresses that question at the 2:00 mark, before going on to name her favorite episode of the nine, and why. (Spoiler alert: “I want [Madisynn] to be in every single marvel project going forward, for sure.”)

[tv echo]

Chit Chat is Over | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Sep 21, 2022

[tv echo]

The Cast of Marvel Studios' She-Hulk Talk How the Series Smashes Stereotypes | Presented by Toyota
Marvel Entertainment   Sep 23, 2022

[tv echo]

Josh Segarra on joining ‘She-Hulk,’ MCU, and his All In debut | The Sessions w/ Renee Paquette
Renee Paquette   Oct 1, 2022

[tv echo]

Spoilers for episode 8 (premiered Oct. 6)...

Did She-Hulk's Super-Flirty Daredevil Episode Fumble Its Satisfying Climax?
By Matt Webb Mitovich / October 6 2022
https://tvline.com/2022/10/06/she-hulk-recap-season-1-episode-8-daredevil-matt-jen-sex/

Quote

When She-Hulk met Daredevil… things got super-flirty (and then some). But did the closing sequence that Jen herself said felt “tacked on” wind up throwing cold water on the heroes’ rousing team-up?

‘She-Hulk’: Bringing Matt Murdock into Jen Walters' Life
BY RACHEL PAIGE   October 6, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/she-hulk-matt-murdock-daredevil

Quote

“Knowing that Charlie was taking this character on again and that we got to reintroduce him through this show, the dynamic between him and Jen is so, so special,” Star Tatiana Maslany explains to Marvel.com.
*  *  *
“I really wanted their dynamic to have this kind of Howard Hawks, very quick back and forth where they're attracted to each other, but they have to kind of poke and prod at each other. They're not just coming out and saying it. At least not to each other— ‘Hey, I'm into you.’”
*  *  *
“We have to keep reminding people that this is Jen's show, this is She-Hulk's show,” Gao says with a laugh. “Everything in the show is like, how can we either subvert a trope or defy expectations or ground something in funny reality. That's kind of the ethos of the show. So of course, it was just natural for this show, being so meta, that we would acknowledge and tease the classic Daredevil hallway fight. But then, of course, we would have to undercut it with our girl, She-Hulk.”

‘She-Hulk’ Episode 8: Jennifer Walters vs. Daredevil
BY RACHEL PAIGE   October 6, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/she-hulk-episode-8-recap-daredevil

Quote

“I’m Daredevil,” Matt says matter-o-factly. And even though there’s a familiar music cue for us watching at home, none of this rings any sort of bells for Jen.

She-Hulk’: Exploring Jennifer Walters' “Justified” Rage in Episode 8
BY RACHEL PAIGE   October 6, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/she-hulk-jennifer-walters-justified-rage-episode-8 

Quote

“She is a woman who walks through the world and has experienced things that every woman has experienced,” Director and executive producer Kat Coiro, who helmed Episode 8, explains. “We just took these very relatable experiences that women have and put them on to this character who is able to defend herself and doesn't have to be polite if she doesn't want to because she has brawn that most women don't have. It really felt like an organic part of the process. As we introduce her to the MCU, we introduce a fully-formed female character who has experiences that we can all relate to.”
*  *  *
“The rage of just feeling that people can take your power from you, that you have no agency when you deserve so much more, that's definitely— female rage is very deeply explored on the show,” Director of Episodes 5, 6, and 7, Anu Valia adds. Even just filming the end of Episode 7, where it’s revealed that Josh captured footage of Jen in bed, made her incredibly uncomfortable. Anu adds that for the most part, it’s been interesting to see human Jen have more anger than She-Hulk, which is an interesting dynamic.

Edited October 7, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

[tv echo]

Beginning | Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+
Marvel Entertainment   Oct 11, 2022

[arc]

On K.E.V.I.N.:

Quote

“I think I probably wrote like, 20 versions of a finale that went all over the place and I started feeling like, ‘Well, this is a Marvel show, I better give them the classic Marvel ending,’” Gao continues. “Big villain fight, big finale. But it never felt right because I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”

It was the real-life Kevin, Kevin Feige, who helped Gao realize that maybe She-Hulk didn’t need the big villain battle ending. After a talk,  Feige “really opened my mind to the idea that it's OK to not do that because I was trying to do what I thought was the Marvel expectation of what the show had to be. He was like, ‘Why? No one's telling you to do that, you don't have to do that, you can do something completely different, we should be doing something completely different because this show is so different from anything that Marvel has done.’ It was getting that permission from him that really made me think, ‘Oh.’ It just changed everything.”

Also, apparently most of the onscreen writers weren’t the actual writers, though I think Gao was there. But the Marvel receptionist was the real life Marvel receptionist at the time:

Quote

Another meta moment for the show falls with the receptionist at Marvel Studios, played by the then-actual receptionist at Marvel Studios.

“Matt Wilkie, who plays the receptionist is, or at the time, was the receptionist at Marvel,” Gao recalls. “My hope— and he's since been promoted which I'll hold against him forever because it ruins my dream, which was that somebody would watch the show and then have a meeting at Marvel Studios and then go to that actual lobby, see Matt Wilkie and sign the NDA.”