‘She-Hulk’ Was Heavily Influenced by ‘Fleabag’, Says Tatiana Maslany
As part of their new issue, Total Film Magazine had the chance to sit down with She-Hulk director Kat Coiro, head writer Jessica Gao, and star Tatiana Maslany, where the two discussed their take on the series.
According to Coiro, who directed six episodes of the show, one of the biggest influences on the show for them was Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, which was constantly brought up on set. She said:
“We talked a lot about Fleabag.”
To which Maslany added:
“The irreverence of [Fleabag] and the sense of humor… there’s a lot there that I can definitely see that they drew from as inspiration.”
Jessica Gao, also pointed out that this will be very different from what the MCU has put out so far — while other shows or movies are focused on saving the world and even the universe, She-Hulk will focus more on the daily life of these superheroes. Gao said:
“Because the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe has already done a fantastic job of huge action, enormous stakes. It’s always the fate of the universe, the fate of the free world. But that can’t be every single day. What happens in between those movies when these characters just have to live their lives, when they have to go on dates, when they have to go grocery shopping, when they have to see their family at a reunion?
We definitely explore what it’s like to be a modern woman dating online.”
Maslany then built upon that last part:
“It was just so embarrassingly human, and that’s what drew me in. I loved seeing that her dating life was just as much of a stress as potentially becoming one of the Avengers.”
She-Hulk is not coming alone, of course. The trailer released over the weekend already showed us more footage with Jennifer Walters’ cousin, Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Tim Roth as The Abomination — from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk — as well as Benedict Wong’s return as Wong and Daredevil himself, who had been long rumored to be appearing in the show.
The series will premiere the first of nine episodes on Disney Plus on August 17. Stay tuned for more news on the MCU in the coming days.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
