DUBAI: At first, it’s hard to know what to think of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.” The latest live-action Marvel series, now streaming on Disney+, has a ridiculous premise — the cousin of green giant Bruce Banner/Hulk accidentally gains his superpowers, but then continues to live the life of a lawyer, focusing on court battles and dating apps — all while gigantic and green herself. It’s silly, bawdy and off-kilter (that it comes from the mind of the woman who wrote the “Pickle Rick” episode of cult cartoon “Rick and Morty” is no surprise). It really shouldn’t work. Yet, somehow, “She-Hulk” is the most fun Marvel series to date.
“I wanted to see what happens when superheroes have to go have dinner with their parents and listen to their mom get on them about giving her grandchildren, because that happens in real life. You just don’t get to see it in these movies,” Jessica Gao, the series’ creator and “Rick and Morty” alum, tells Arab News.
In some ways, this is the show that Marvel has been itching to make ever since the end of the first “Avengers” film in 2011. In that film’s post-credits scene, after saving the earth from invading aliens, our bloodied and bruised heroes sat together at a shawarma stand, exhausted, chewing in silence. “She-Hulk” takes that underlying humanity that has made its characters resonate and stretches it as far as possible.
“This show really aims to capture life, despite having this outlandish premise. It feels real in a lot of ways. In life, you have funny days and terrible days, and we wanted to explore all of that,” says director Kat Coiro.
“Yes, there are big set pieces, but we also deal with her helping her dad carry stuff into the garage. It’s those little sweet moments that really made me excited to do this show,” adds its star, Tatiana Maslany.
Mark Ruffalo and Tatiana Maslany in ‘She-Hulk.’ (Marvel Studios)
It needed an exceptionally gifted actress to make “She-Hulk” work — someone who could not only handle the switch between the super and the mundane, but also the show’s huge tonal shifts between comedy and drama. In the wrong hands, it would quickly become the wrong kind of ridiculous.
“Part of what drew us to Tatiana is that she has played this role where she showed a range that is almost inhuman on (cult sci-fi series) ‘Orphan Black.’ We looked at that and said, ‘We need an actress who can really tap into all these different feelings and emotions and personas,'” says Coiro.
“She-Hulk, as a character, is different, because she retains her sense of self despite her changes, and it’s the way she’s perceived in the world that changes her. We knew that Tatiana could deliver that, and she’s been incredible. Everything you think about her is true — she comes so prepared, she comes with so many ideas, so that when you get onto set, it’s really about refining and exploring, rather than starting from the beginning and trying to build something from there,” Coiro continues.
Ginger Gonzago as Nikki Ramos and Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters. (Marvel Studios)
Maslany’s sure-footedness allowed Gao and Coiro to push things further, turning the series into something closer to absurdist comedies such as “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23” and the late 90s hit “Ally McBeal” than anything we’ve seen thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it’s a show tailor-made for cameos, turning it into a creative haven for actors usually handed material that takes itself much more seriously.
“It was so interesting for all of these existing MCU characters, from Wong to Abomination to Daredevil, to come into what is essentially a new genre. Because they’re all such adept actors, the adjustment period was very quick, and they all had so much fun doing it,” says Coiro.
As the guest stars shuffled in and out, that also gave the “She-Hulk” set something of a party atmosphere, where actors such as Benedict Wong (Wong) and Charlie Cox (Daredevil) could come and let their hair down before gearing back up to fight whatever supervillain will try to destroy the universe in the next Marvel saga.
Mark Ruffalo and Tatiana Maslany. (Marvel Studios)
“Benedict Wong would DJ for us if we needed a pick-me-up. He played a lot of Sister Sledge. There was always kind of a good vibe from each of these cast members,” says co-star Ginger Gonzaga, who plays She-Hulk’s best friend and paralegal Nikki Ramos.
“While Wong played these great songs, Tatiana and I would do puzzles and play a lot of board games. Her dog’s favorite song is that (Daddy Yankee) ‘Gasolina’ song, so we’d play that and dance with her dog,” Gonaga adds. “You know, it was a lot of the very professional stuff they teach you in acting school.”