“She-Hulk was breaking the fourth wall way before Deadpool,” explained Kat Coiro, who directs six of the nine episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and also serves as an executive producer. The newest Marvel Studios series smashes onto Disney+ on Thursday, August 18th, and like all of their projects, the comics serve as a blueprint for not only the story, but the tone as well. “Back in the comics, she was always very meta, and she was always taking control of her story and her narrative. And I think that's something that Jessica [Gao] really captured amazingly in the show, the essence of that spirit.”
(Marvel Studios)
Kat Coiro was joined by star Tatiana Maslany and Head Writer/Executive Producer Jessica Gao during a recent TCA press conference. Jessica’s approach drew inspiration from John Byrne’s fourth-wall-breaking tone in the comics, while also adding a uniquely feminine approach to the story. “There is an existing character who is related to her, who has gone through this exact journey,” Jessica Gao shared about how Jessica Walters’ journey mirrors that of her cousin Bruce Banner. “At the end of the day, they’re very different people, and so you can’t expect two people to go through a similar situation but react the exact same way. And that’s kind of the crux of their relationship in this series is seeing that there are some things that they can relate to each other, but ultimately they are different people who are experiencing it in very different ways. And also, there is a double standard to how the world perceives her because she is a woman and because she is the female Hulk. The way everybody treats her is also very different than the way the world has treated him. And these are all themes that we explore in the show.”
Tatiana Maslany has the unenviable task of portraying the duality between Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk who, unlike Bruce Banner, retains her full cognitive abilities when she hulks out. “Her anger, her largeness, her taking up space in a room, all of that is fertile ground for us to play, and play with it comedically, too,” the actress revealed, noting that while there is drama, this series is a half-hour comedy. “To flip the standard on its head so that you can laugh at it, but you’re also aware that it’s the truth of every woman walking into a space. And the duality of her two bodies I find so compelling. What is it to walk into a room as a 6-foot-7 woman and what is it to walk into a room as a 5-foot-2 woman? It’s so rife. We’re so fixated on women’s bodies, whether it’s aesthetically or politically or in terms of rights or in terms of autonomy. I think what we do in this show is touch on all of these concepts but through Jessica’s hilarious brain. So it’s really deep at the same time as it's goofy.”
Speaking of fixation on woman’s bodies, fans have been vocal about the appearance of She-Hulk since the first images and footage were released. “I do think that has to do with our culture’s belief in their ownership of women’s bodies,” Kat Coiro said about the criticism. “I think a lot of the critique comes from feeling like they’re able to tear apart the CGI women. There’s a lot of talk about her body type, and we based her a lot on Olympian athletes, not bodybuilders. But I think if we’d gone the other way we would be facing the same critique. I think it’s very hard to win when you make women’s bodies.”
(Marvel Studios)
One of the themes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the way you’re perceived vs. the way you feel. “Even though it is the same person’s mind, the world is receiving her in a different way and she moves through the world in a different way,” Jessica Gao shared. “So much of identity is not just about your perception of yourself, but also how the world receives you and how the world changes. And as she changes physical forms, she can see in real-time how people treat her, Jennifer, differently as She-Hulk and it completely changes the dynamics of every relationship she’s in: her relationship with her co-workers, her relationship with her friends, her relationship with her family.”
Speaking of family, Mark Ruffalo reprises his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk in the series and while he wasn’t on hand during the press conference, his presence was felt as nothing but a supportive actor and colleague. “She-Hulk and Hulk sort of feel like outsiders, they feel like they don’t fit in the world,” Tatiana Maslany explained, adding that sharing a stage in motion capture suits naturally helped both she and Mark feel out of place. “We're in these little gray suits with the camera in front of our faces and there's something that actually informs the character through that. We're not in super-cool super suits. No, we don't feel cool.” Kat Coiro also shared that Tatiana and Mark inspired some script changes, particularly referencing the montage seen in the show’s trailer.
The launch of the trailer also teased another MCU character stepping into this world, lawyer Matt Murdoch, aka Daredevil. He recently popped up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and gets his own Disney+ series next year, titled Daredevil: Born Again. “Charlie [Cox] is amazing,” Tatiana Maslany teased. “The tone of our show is so different and to see his character in the tone of She-Hulk is really fun.” Fans are obviously dying for answers, with much speculation that She-Hulk could next appear in Daredevil: Born Again. “There are Marvel security guards posted outside of each of our doors,” Jessica Gao joked, with the team committed to keeping whatever is going to happen a secret. I guess to find out, we’ll all have to simply watch the series.
Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” debuts Thursday, August 18th, exclusively on Disney+.
(Marvel Studios)