Tatiana Maslany on the She-Hulk Finale
Tatiana Maslany Says the "She-Hulk" Finale Is a Response to Our Plot-Obsessed Culture
Watch out! This post contains spoilers.
The season one finale of "She-Hulk" features an unorthodox twist. Instead of facing her foes in a brutal smash-fest, She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), breaks the fourth wall — literally — and bursts through the Disney+ menu to talk with K.E.V.I.N., a sentient robot that controls the MCU (and a comedic take on actual Marvel head Kevin Feige). The pair argue about storytelling, the MCU's Disney+ series' endings, and whose show it really is.
Maslany tells POPSUGAR that when showrunner Jessica Gao first told her this idea for the finale, she wondered if the head honchos at Marvel would let them do it. "But I think that's why I loved it so much," she says. "It felt so innately 'She-Hulk.' And it also felt very Jessica Gao. It also felt very female. . . . To see the system for what it is and to be able to speak on it from an instinctive place, in the tradition of She-Hulk's irreverence."
But she wasn't worried about offending people; she found the whole thing artistically thrilling. "I'm, as an artist, very curious about destroying narrative structures, or reinterpreting them or investigating new ways of telling stories from new perspectives that don't necessarily adhere to a heavy plot-obsessed sort of culture," she explains. "So for me, it felt very in line with who I am as an artist, just to be like, let's mix it up. Let's not feel attached to the system the way it is."
Another aspect of the finale that fans reacted strongly to online was the reappearance of Daredevil, aka Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox), meeting Jen's family at a barbecue at the end. But does that mean She-Hulk and Daredevil are an official "thing"?
"I think Jen's having fun," Maslany says. "At some point, Jen might have wanted a settled life. But I feel like part of She-Hulk is actually reinvestigating herself and redefining herself. So to me, it feels like her life is opening. And whether that means making out a little more, whatever. I think she's just open now in a new way." Jen's journey, she explains, is "way more about having sort of accepted what happened to her and finding her place within it, and finding the marriage of these two sides of herself, and a little grace in accepting that."
One of the joys of "She-Hulk" for Maslany was working with such a big ensemble. There were the characters who are in almost every episode, like Ginger Gonzaga's Nikki and Josh Segarra's Pug. "I want to see a spinoff," she says of their characters. She also praises Renée Elise Goldsberry, who plays Mallory. "She's like a queen," Maslany says. "Like, she truly has this poise that I'm like, where does that come from?" Jen also has a deep connection with one of her clients, Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky, aka the Abomination, and she credits Roth with bringing nuance to the role. "It really keeps it in this grey space, which I think allows for the tenderness and also allows for the betrayal," she says of Emil's role in the finale. Is Emil ultimately an ally or a nemesis? "He does break out of prison at the end," Maslany points out.
There were also guest stars like Emil's superhero support group, Patty Guggenheim as Madisynn, and Patti Harrison as the bridezilla Lulu. "When [director] Anu Valia told me that she cast Patti Harrison as Lulu, I truly screamed because she's my favourite comedian and has been for a long time," Maslany reveals.
Of course, since She-Hulk's a lawyer, anyone in the MCU could be a potential client for her in the future. Who does Maslany most want to see? "I'd love to defend baby Groot," she says, admitting that she and Gonzaga are both obsessed with the character. "So I feel like we would really fight for baby Groot." She imagines She-Hulk carrying the lovable little guy into the courtroom on her shoulder. Maybe her dream will come true in season two.
All episodes of "She-Hulk" are streaming now on Disney+.
