We haven't seen or heard from Jennifer Walters since the events of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but rumors persist that Marvel Studios does have plans in place for the character. A second season of the Disney+ series seems highly unlikely at this stage, but what about an appearance in Avengers: Doomsday and/or Secret Wars?
There's a lot of speculation that Walters will show up in the latter, but Tatiana Maslany really doesn't sound like she has much interest in returning to the role.
The Keeper star spoke about the "corporate pressure" she felt while working on the Disney+ series during an appearance on the Backstage podcast.
“With She-Hulk, there are so many factors that go into these big, big freaking things that are just, like, totally devoid of artistry and pull you so far away from who you are.”
The actress also touched on the scrutiny that can come with working on such a large-scale production, particularly around appearance.
“There’s outside eyes looking at you. Are you thin enough? Are you blah, blah, blah? Like, all of this pressure. I’m going to look like what I look like. I’m not going to worry about that other thing.”
Maslany was asked about her potential MCU return during a recent appearance on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast while promoting her Apple TV series, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, and she seems to feel that the character may not work as part of a superhero ensemble.
"Yeah. I mean, I don’t know,” Maslany said. “I think it would take somebody like Jessica Gao to weave her into that world because she knows that character so deeply and loves her and gets her tone, but there is something about She-Hulk being the star of her own show that makes sense. Do you know what I mean? Because of the direct address, she is our narrator. So, I think it would be a real cool challenge to see her in some other context, but I do think like the sort of joy of She-Hulk is in the singularness of it.”
Maslany was then asked if she thinks a second season of She-Hulk or a jump to the big screen is more likely.
“I don’t know. I think people would be so mad at me being on their screens again,” she joked.
She-Hulk received overall positive reviews and was reportedly one of the streamer's more popular Marvel shows with general audiences, but it's fair to say that it wasn't every MCU fan's cup of tea. Though some were fully on board with the show's brand of humor, others found it way too silly, and many felt the season finale, in particular, left a lot to be desired.
Even head writer Jessica Gao admitted that the creative team struggled to come up with an appropriate ending during a 2022 interview.
"We really, really struggled with the finale. We started off doing a lot of versions of the finale that were much more just like straight and very, very Marvel movie, you know, and it just never felt right for us to just end in a big set piece fight, and take out the bad guy, and it just always felt like, ‘Oh, it’s a different show now.’"
A recent rumor claimed that Maslanay was asked to return as She-Hulk for the next Avengers movies, but she declined the offer after falling out with the studio.
Late last year, Maslany took to social media to encourage her followers to cancel their Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN subscriptions when Jimmy Kimmel was (temporarily) taken off the air after his controversial comments about Charlie Kirk. Scooper MTTSH would follow up by claiming that Marvel does want Maslany back in the fold, but the actress has no desire to return.
"Marvel Studios wanted to use She-Hulk in a big way for Avengers Secret Wars. The problem is that Tatiana Maslany has no interest in working for Disney. If they’re unable to convince her to return, the options are to remove the character altogether or recast the role."
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters as she navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk. The nine-episode series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong. The cast also includes Ginger Gonzaga, Josh Segarra, Jameela Jamil, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro and Jessica Gao. Co-executive producers are Wendy Jacobson and Jennifer Booth.