MarvelBlog News for August 22nd, 2022

by David Mumpower · August 21, 2022

This week, a new Marvel series has debuted, and it’s a big one, literally and figuratively. We’ll talk about all the media notes that came out during She-Hulk’s publicity tour in the latest MarvelBlog News.

She-Hulk’s Team Speaks

Source: Marvel Studios

This week MarvelBlog News starts with one of the hysterical parts of Marvel; the studio’s notorious secrecy. Showrunners and other members of the production team earn this career-making opportunity. Then, they cannot say much to their friends and family.

I mean, Owen Wilson recently revealed that Marvel executives dressed him down for revealing too much about Loki. If Marvel will yell at one of the most famous celebrities of the past 30 years, you can imagine the fear factor for industry newcomers.

Once a new Marvel story debuts, the staff can and do start talking about the process. That’s what we’re witnessing this week. Cast members have announced a slew of new information regarding She-Hulk and the MCU as a whole. Some of it is smaller stuff.

For example, we know the series timing for She-Hulk.

#SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw takes place after #MoonKnight but before #MsMarvel on the MCU timeline, which places the events of the series around Summer 2025! pic.twitter.com/Jg3WJku4y4

— The Cine Geek (@CineGeekNews) August 18, 2022

According to the people involved with the story, She-Hulk occurs after Moon Knight but before Ms. Marvel. Do you think Jennifer Walters noticed when Khonshu changed the entire constellation map in the sky a few months ago?

Anyway, this information does suggest that She-Hulk is a bit ahead of Kamala Khan on the road to the next meeting of the Avengers. Without spoiling anything significant, Walters already has her powers before Ms. Marvel acquires her bangles. And they should both fear Jake Lockley. But I digress…

Anyway, we learned a lot more about both the character and the actress portraying her. Some of it is fascinating. For example, Tatiana Maslany confirmed that she turned down a previous role as a Marvel character.

Source: Marvel Studios

She was apparently Sony’s first choice (or an earlier choice) as Anne Weying in the Venom franchise. Yes, she could have been She-Venom instead of Michelle Williams. Well, technically the She-Venom part hasn’t happened yet, but you get the point.

More on She-Hulk and the MCU

Source: Marvel Studios

Sony wouldn’t cast someone without Marvel’s head Kevin Feige’s approval. So, we know he has wanted Maslany in the MCU for a while. However, what I just said about Marvel’s secrecy still applies to this actress as well.

During a recent joint interview with Mark Ruffalo, who plays The Hulk, the ten-year veteran surprised Maslany. He stated: “There’s not going to be another Avengers without her.” That was news to her, as she asked for clarification. Ruffalo added, “That’s what I’m hearing.”

Even the new performers in the MCU don’t know how or when they’ll be appearing until someone else tells them. After a decade, Ruffalo’s more plugged in. Even then, some story arcs qualify as happenstance rather than strategy. For example, here’s this She-Hulk promo:

#SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw Official New Promo with new footage and a new shot of #Daredevil!

The 2nd Episode Starts Streaming on #DisneyPlus August 25th. pic.twitter.com/gtv9Oslltc

— The Cine Geek (@CineGeekNews) August 19, 2022

Attentive fans quickly noticed Daredevil standing behind her in one shot. It’s not a surprise, as one of the recent trailers also showed Matt Murdock in costume. In fact, during a recent appearance on a Deadline podcast, creator Jessica Gao indicated that they didn’t even know they’d have Murdock at first.

Gao had written the show as a multi-episode courtroom drama with Abomination as the focus. Yes, that character was always in the plans. Daredevil didn’t arrive until later. And that wasn’t even the only significant change to the story.

This one might blow your mind. What you just watched as the pilot for She-Hulk was actually episode eight on the schedule. Marvel initially wanted to save the “I’m a superhero, now what?” part of the story until later. After playing with the story some, they made this drastic change.

Regarding She-Hulk’s CGI

Source: Marvel Studios

Gao has also touched on the CGI process. As a former writer on Rick & Morty, she was somewhat used to the process of letting others control the visuals. However, Gao indicates that she’d originally asked Feige about special effects. She wanted to structure the story to plan for the CGI.

After all, She-Hulk stands a foot taller than Walters and is also green all over. It’s a different look and style that impacts how other characters respond. Feige told her point blank that when he watched She-Hulk, he expected to see She-Hulk.

Alas, those good intentions fell by the wayside. What disrupted those plans was the industry-wide CGI crunch we’ve discussed. As special effects teams struggled more under the burden of excessive work, Marvel rebooted on the fly.

Source: Marvel Studios

Gao faced frequent requests to show more Walters and less She-Hulk. That’s something we can track over the next two months.

Marvel Miscellany

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, participates in the Marvel Studios’ Live-Action presentation at San Diego Comic-Con on July 23, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

We’ve had a slow news month thus far. Marvel revealed everything it needed at Comic-Con, and the updates have slowed to a crawl since then. MarvelBlog News does have something uplifting to share with you, though. Disney hosts its D23 Expo in a couple of weeks.

As part of these proceedings, the company will honor a new group of Disney Legends. You’ll recognize the Disney ties for some of this year’s selections like Kristen Bell, Ellen Pompeo, Tracee Ellis Ross, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel.

Those are star performers from Frozen, Grey’s Anatomy, and Black-ish, iconic Disney-owned properties. Disney will also honor one celebrity posthumously. Yes, as of 2022, Chadwick Boseman is a Disney Legend!

Source: Marvel Studios

You can expect many tears and viral videos to come from that announcement. The other fascinating tidbit from this week’s MarvelBlog News also came from Mark Ruffalo. He indicated that Secret Wars is a much more ambitious project than Avengers: Endgame. So…wow.

Finally, presuming that you’ve watched the She-Hulk pilot, you should know something about that post-credits scene. Bruce Banner’s dialogue reveal came straight from Kevin Feige. That showgirl is MCU canon, y’all! And it was a surprise to everyone, even…

https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/1560294942467313664

That’s all for this edition of MarvelBlog News, have an amazing week everyone!