She-Hulk Head Writer Nearly Quit Over Bizarre Feud With Kevin Feige
She-Hulk creator Jessica Gao nearly rage-quit the show in a disagreement with Kevin Feige over whether a robot should wear a cap.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law just completed its first season on the Disney+ streaming service, and executive producer Jessica Gao is giving fans a peek behind the scenes at what turned out to be a chaotic approach to the season finale. Gao, who also serves as head writer, admits she wrote no less than 20 different versions of the finale, and in true She-Hulk fashion, revealed she nearly rage-quit because she wanted a robot to wear a hat, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As we all now know, in the season finale (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it), Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall once again, only this time, she actually breaks out of the Disney+ menu and raids Disney Studios itself to confront the head of Marvel Studios, who turns out to be a HAL 9000-like robot called K.E.V.I.N. (a nod to Kevin Feige). However, Jessica Gao wanted the robot to wear a little black cap (another nod to Feige), but the studio chief objected.
While Feige didn’t seem to mind the mega-meta approach to the She-Hulk finale, he thought the cap was a bit too much. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he told Gao in a development meeting trying to sift through the 20 different ideas for the last episode. “Why would a robot wear a hat?” Jessica Gao stood her ground, insisting the robot wear a hat, and then proclaiming “Kevin, if you don’t let me put a hat on that robot, then I quit!”
Feige then sarcastically accepted her resignation, breaking the tension with a little humor. As we know now, in a compromise that She-Hulk’s attorney side would be proud of, Feige and Jessica Gao agreed the K.E.V.I.N. robot did not wear a hat, but had a cap-like brim over the lights that made up its face, resembling a hat. Everyone was happy, Daredevil showed up for another cameo, viewers met Skaar, the credits rolled, Wong showed up, and the credits continued to roll.
With the first season, and all of its controversies, now in the books, the talk turns to the possibilities of a She-Hulk season two. In a recent interview, Tatiana Maslany seemed skeptical of a second season, saying Feige was “dismissive” over the idea. As creator and showrunner of She-Hulk, Jessica Gao isn’t really talking about the possibility (yet), but she remains highly complimentary of Kevin Feige, and their working relationship appears to be strong, so that isn’t a barrier to another season.
However, rumors about She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters playing a larger role in the upcoming Marvel movies persist, so if the character returns, the TV screen may be too small to contain her now.
As it turns out, the big cameo/tease at the end of She-Hulk wasn’t Jessica Gao having Bruce Banner, Daredevil, or even Wong return, but rather the introduction of Skaar, the son of Hulk/Bruce conceived on Sakaar while the Hulk was there hanging out (prior to the events in Thor: Ragnarok). Jessica Gao revealed that his introduction in the finale was all Kevin Feige’s idea, with his origin story and purpose explained in some future blockbuster coming to a theater near your (and we hope it’s Planet Hulk). “Ultimately, it was Kevin who decided that he wanted to introduce Skaar (in She-Hulk),” Jessica Gao said. “So you’ll have to ask K.E.V.I.N. himself what his plans are for that.”
