We caught up with “She-Hulk” head writer Jessica Gao, lead actress Tatiana Maslany and Jon “Hulk-Todd” Bass for an interview and asked them straight out about the crazy finale and the future of She-Hulk (Deadpool? Daredevil) and Todd.
The finale of “She-Hulk” is delightfully crazy and extremely fun. What exactly is going on and what role an A.I. named K.E.V.I.N. and the son (!) of the Hulk play in it, we have already explained in detail elsewhere. In our interviews with “She-Hulk” head writer Jessica Gao, leading actress Tatiana Maslany and Jon Bass, who can be seen as the villain Todd or Hulk-Todd, we have of course brought up the subject again:
: Congratulations on a very entertaining and completely crazy finale. What did you think when you first heard about the plans for the “She-Hulk” finale?
Jon Bass: My mind melted, I became a puddle and then was reborn as a new being. I can’t believe this really happened
Tatiana Maslany: Very entertaining and completely crazy sums it up very well. I was so happy that we were actually doing this. But it also makes total sense because that’s how Jessica Gao saw this character and that’s how the character was already built in the comics. She literally breaks down the fourth wall. And that meta-awareness, that talking into the camera, means she knows all the trappings as well. It was a great honour to be able to do that.
: Sure, She-Hulk is always up for some meta fun in the comics too, but in the series it’s a whole different ballgame. How did you come up with the idea for this finale?
Jessica Gao: It was a very long road. We went through countless ideas on how exactly to do it, definitely a double-digit number. In the beginning, I still mistakenly believed that I would then have to follow the Marvel formula for the finale. We’ve had our fun, but now it’s time to bring the box home and do it the Marvel way. The big villains are revealed, there’s a threat, people’s lives are in danger, a big fight…
It was just wonderful and liberating to have Kevin Feige himself say: You don’t have to do this. Why should you? This is not a Marvel movie, this is a series that has done completely different things, different from anything we’ve ever done. Why should you stop now? Don’t follow the typical Marvel formula. He not only gave us permission, he actually encouraged us to do it.
Jessica Gao: [laughs] I hope so! But of course that doesn’t mean that future projects can’t feel like the films before them. The nice thing about the big catalogue and the different projects is that you can try different things. Some things can be done in the tried and tested way, but with other things you can do something new.
SHE-HULK & DEADPOOL & DAREDEVIL
: As I said, She-Hulk is also notorious for meta shenanigans in the comics, but many will also associate that with Deadpool in particular because of the two movies. Now that Deadpool is also about to become part of the MCU: Do you see some rivalry there, Tatiana? Or are you looking forward to a team-up in “Deadpool 4”?
Tatiana Maslany: I would totally love to do a movie with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. He’s from Canada, like me. And in the movies, his character is even from my birthplace, which is Regina, Saskatchewan. So there’s a lot of reasons to team up. We have to do something together, even if it’s just a quick fun time between films.
: Speaking of team-ups, as far as I know, Daredevil and She-Hulk are not paired up in the Marvel comics. Where did the idea come from to make them a couple?
Tatiana Maslany: When Charlie Cox came on set, we just had so much fun together. It was so cool to see what he was doing with this character that he had previously developed in such a serious, different superhero series. How he brings it into the MCU and completely embraces the silliness and playfulness. And he was such a great foil to Jennifer because he’s still a serious superhero with concrete ideas about superhero life and she’s not. She’s a hustler and he’s so intellectual and it just makes for a fun couple.
: And they both work as lawyers, so it also makes so much sense that they have a connection to each other.
Tatiana Maslany: Yeah, totally.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR SHE-HULK IN MCU
: In the finale, there are a number of references to a movie, a possible second season of She-Hulk, to the X-Men and so on. Jessica, how much of that comes from you and how much from Kevin or K.E.V.I.N.?
Jessica Gao: [laughs] Now, of course, the question arises whether perhaps everything comes from the pen of K.E.V.I.N.. I’m just a figurehead!
Almost the whole scene was written a few years ago, with some minor changes. At the time, we were really just making fun of it tongue-in-cheek. And of course, every show makes a joke in the first season about whether you’re going to get a second season and whether there’s going to be a movie. It shouldn’t be taken too seriously. We as a writing team come from a world where you can never be sure if there’s going to be another season, and we made fun of that.
: Tatiana, with the conclusion of the first season “She-Hulk”, all doors are now open for you in the MCU. What are you most looking forward to?
Tatiana Maslany: I was totally surprised by the story of “She-Hulk”. It shattered all the expectations I had before about what makes a superhero story. So if Jennifer shows up somewhere else again, I hope that element of surprise stays, that cheeky tone. Whether it’s in an “Avengers” movie or wherever, that quality, that not-quite-there quality, shouldn’t be missing.
THE RETURN OF HULK-TODD?
: Jon, how much fun was it to play a character like Todd? And are you sad that you didn’t get to rage around as Hulk-Todd for as long as you did?
Jon Bass: I think it’s great to play Todd. I think it’s more fun to play a villain than a hero. And the fact that I got to be the Hulk at all is the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though it was only for a few minutes, I like to take that, I stop time. And it doesn’t mean Todd can’t become the Hulk again. He still has She-Hulk’s blood somewhere…
: So you’d like to come back as Todd or Hulk-Todd again?
Jon Bass: Absolutely. I would think that would be great, whether it’s Todd, Hulk-Todd or a completely different version that exists somewhere in the MCU. “Show me what you got, bro!” [Jon Bass is quoting a line of dialogue from the “She-Hulk” finale here.]
: Do you have any idea where and how Todd might return?
Jon Bass: Everywhere. It’s the MCU. They copy the characters in everywhere they can. And when that happens, I’m the happiest man in America.
: “She-Hulk” almost feels like a declaration of war on a certain kind of “fan”. Did you realise what the reaction to the series would be and how do you feel about it now?
Jon Bass: I think it’s hilarious. It’s great that Jessica Gao could write a show that not only highlights what people are going to say about it, but does it so unerringly. It almost feels like she’s writing the series as it airs. That’s incredible for a series that was written three years ago. And it’s because these terms aren’t new, and it will probably go on like this until the end of time.
: Unfortunately.
Jon Bass: Unfortunately, but it’s also great that somebody’s taking that and making a joke out of it. Because it is.
All nine episodes of “She-Hulk” will be available to stream on Disney+ on October 13, 2022.
