She-Hulk: Attorney At Law sees Jennifer Walters breaking the fourth wall quite a bit — and yes, she was doing this before Deadpool.
Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk, breaking the fourth wall is not something that is new to her character at all. This is a trait that is ripped right from the comic books so it was something that was always a plan for She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. During the global press conference for the new Marvel series, Director Kat Coiro and Head Writer Jessica Gao discuss the importance of bringing this to the screen, and the steps they took in order to it.
Gao explains that it was actually quite a long journey in working out exactly how it would look. How much does she talk to camera? Is she talking directly to the audience? Is there another meta element? Is she talking to somebody else? are just a few of the questions that were asked when putting the show together.
“At one point there was an iteration in the scripts, where, instead of really talking directly to camera, there were text blocks that were editor’s notes in comic books. And she was actually interacting with the editor’s notes that would be on screen. We did eventually scrapped that idea. But we went through a lot of different versions of how she would do it.” – Head Writer Jessica Gao
Coiro chimes in that ultimately, it was all about finding balance. It was important to them to make sure breaking the fourth wall connects to the audience and draws us in, but not so much so that viewers are not connecting to her story in the world that has been built. Having seen the first three episodes, we can confirm that it works in the series, adding a fun and unique element to the story that only helps with the comedic aspect.
Tatiana Maslany, who plays She-Hulk, weighs in on the conversation as well, adding that there’s something about her awareness. She is able to go from being Jen to She-Hulk in a seamless way, and her consciousness is same, which is untrue with her cousin Bruce Banner. “She’s aware of the audience. It’s like an extension of her superpower. She’s like, I know I’m talking to camera. I know you guys are watching this. And there’s something about that super hyper awareness that is who she is.”
Ginger Gonzaga plays Jen’s best friend Nikki Ramos and she explains that the audience gets the best friend Nikki treatment. “She’s referring almost to a friend. Nikki always gets to be on the inside. Nikki knew she was a Hulk. The audience gets to experience that also, when she’s like, rolling her eyes at the camera, right.”
Tune in on August 18th when She-Hulk: Attorney At Law starts streaming exclusively on Disney+ so you too can witness the fourth wall breaking that Jennifer Walters does.
NEXT: One Change To Thor: Love and Thunder Makes It Perfect
About She-Hulk
In Marvel Studios’ “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany)—an attorney specializing in superhuman-oriented legal cases—must navigate the complicated life of a single, 30-something who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk.
The nine-episode comedy series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong, as well as Jameela Jamil, Josh Segarra, Ginger Gonzaga, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
The series is directed by Kat Coiro (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) and Anu Valia (Episodes 5, 6, 7) with Jessica Gao as head writer. Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro and Jessica Gao.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law streams exclusively on Disney+ beginning August 18, 2022.
