Head writer and creator of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law explains change in origin story
A comic-accurate origin story was intended on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law but changes were made. Showrunner and executive producer, Jessica Gao, explains why. Spoilers ahead…
Suppose you’re not living underground like a hermit or within a Gamma Lab for 18 months. In that case, you may have noticed in the latest series to come to Disney Plus, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, in the pilot episode “A Normal Amount of Rage” there is a change to the source material.
Via Inverse (H/T: Comicbook.com), head writer and executive producer, Jessica Gao, explained why she deviated from the origin story depicted in Savage She-Hulk No.1 written by Stan Lee and illustrated by John Buscema.
In the original story, Jennifer Walters became She-Hulk after an attempt on her life by a crime boss, resulting in her receiving an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. His gamma-irradiated blood transformed her life forever.
She-Hulk changes between the comics and the show
The key difference between the comics and the show is that instead of a mob hit, it was a car accident caused by a Sakaaran scout ship, and rather than a transfusion it was cross-contamination from Dr. Banner’s (Mark Ruffalo) into Jennifer (Tatiana Maslany). This writer prefers this change as opposed to the source material for several reasons which I will get to later.
Jessica Gao explains the change in She-Hulk’s origin
During an interview, the EP addressed why this part of She-Hulk’s origin was changed, Gao mentioned part of the reason was down to tone, which the higher-ups at Marvel felt did not match with the rest of the show. Gao said:
"“There were a couple of reasons for making the changes. The heads of Marvel specifically didn’t want to do a mob hit. I think it was because it didn’t feel like it vibed with the show.”"
Another reason which this writer can rock with is part of why he embraced the change in origin. Gao said: “You would have to set up a ton of back story,” and “You can’t just drop that in.”
While a simple enough back story to behold it is one that would take a quarter of the series to tackle at least. If not executed right, the back story in addition to the exposition of the plot can make the progression of the story convoluted. Plus the next statement that Gao made summed up everything. The EP and head writer said:
"“We’ve watched him [Bruce] over the course of a decade, and he’s struggled with this. He’s tormented by this. He saw it as a curse. It took him a decade to just get to a place of balance and acceptance. He never viewed it as a great thing. It forced him to not even have romantic relationships. I just imagine Bruce would willingly choose to give what he saw as a curse.”"
This statement speaks for itself. Bruce is a different person from the man he used to be from The Incredible Hulk to Thor: Ragnarok and why would he risk cementing the fate of a close relative of his with a curse he has tried to overcome for the better part of over a decade? Of course, weighing up the circumstances, the situation was dire and there was no time.
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What do you think of the marginal shift in the origin story for Jennifer Walters and her sensational, gamma-infused alter-ego in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Are you indifferent? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!