‘She-Hulk’ Head Writer Jessica Gao Admits She Almost Quit Series Over Disagreement With Kevin Feige About Single Joke In Season Finale
Spencer Baculi
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Giving a peek into an alternate future which may have saved everyone from a lot of pain, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law head writer Jessica Gao has revealed that she once came dangerously close to exiting the series over a disagreement between her and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige over a single joke in its season finale.
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
Recalling her spat with Feige to Comicbook.com during a recent appearance on the site’s Phase Zero podcast, Gao explained that the joke at the center of their dispute revolved around the appearance of Marvel Studios’ K.E.V.I.N. machine.
Kevin Feige refused to voice K.E.V.I.N. in the #SheHulk finale.
Jessica Gao almost quit when he also refused to let her give K.E.V.I.N. a real hat.
Full episode–
Apple: https://t.co/hUgjzI0sw3
Spotify: https://t.co/jws5UL69tv
YouTube: https://t.co/vgHersNb19 pic.twitter.com/nBSde9qLQ1— Phase Zero – MCU (@PhaseZeroCB) October 14, 2022
Given the fact that the ‘robot behind the curtain’ was intended to be a parody of the eponymous producer, Gao wanted K.E.V.I.N. to be depicted as wearing a personally-sized baseball cap – a play on Feige’s signature apparel choice.
However, despite having ostensibly okay’d everything in the series thus far, Feige put his foot down on this particular visual gag, as he found that it made little to no sense at all.
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
“‘[She-Hullk] comes into the real world, breaks into Marvel,'” said Gao, recounting her conversation with her boss. “‘You are a machine and the disbelief you can’t suspend is that there would be a baseball hat resting on top of this machine.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I can’t. That doesn’t make any sense. I won’t – you can’t do it.”
“And I was so furious,” she added. “I said, and this is in a meeting with 20 different people. And I said, Kevin, if you don’t let me put a hat on that machine, then I quit.”
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
At that point, Gao detailed, Feige paused for a moment before replying, “‘Thank you very much Jessica. You’ve done a lot of great work for us. We’re sad to see you go.'”
It was only thanks to the intervention of “Sweet Jackson Z from Previz,” who “ever the mediator and hard worker gently suggested what if they incorporate into the design of the machine something that would read as a baseball hat.”
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
“And then Kevin was like, ‘Oh, I’m okay with that. If it’s part of the machine, of course then that makes all the sense!'” Gao concluded. “And so that was our compromise and I didn’t have to quit over a hat on our little robot.”
As seen in the actual episode, this compromise took the form of K.E.V.I.N. sporting a baseball cap-shaped lens hood.
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
Should you wish to waste a few hours of your life on the most pointless MCU entry to date, the entirety of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s nine-episode first season is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 9 “Whose Show Is This?” (2022), Marvel Entertainment
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