She-Hulk is the latest Marvel series to hit Disney Plus, but before it even debuted on the platform, fans were comparing it to another TV series – Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag. In the trailers of the new sci-fi series, She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall, a storytelling device Bridge’s acclaimed work also made use of. However, the director of the majority of She-Hulk’s episodes, Kat Coiro, has revealed that the new green superhero’s audience talking quirk isn’t influenced by anyone.
During a press roundtable where The Digital Fix were present, Coiro addressed the Fleabag and She-Hulk comparison, pointing out that the Marvel character’s ability to break the fourth wall harks back to the original Marvel comics from the 1980s, as opposed to the 2016 comedy series, Fleabag.
“Well, I will start by saying that I adore Fleabag, and I’m a huge fan. That being said, She-Hulk has been breaking the fourth wall since way before Fleabag was even a glint in anybody’s eye, and that’s what I kept coming back to,” she explained. “You know, we’re gonna have comparisons to Fleabag and Deadpool, but the truth is, part of the essence of She-Hulk’s character from the comics is that she breaks the fourth wall she speaks to the audience.”
“She speaks to the writers; she takes control of her own narrative,” Coiro continued. “So it was really less about being influenced by other fourth-wall breakers and going back to canon and back to the character in the comic books and honouring that.”
She-Hulk, also known as Jen (Tatiana Maslany), is an LA lawyer and the cousin of Bruce Banner. She is also one of the most exciting new heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being smart, strong, and downright hilarious.
Fans can catch the character’s small screen debut now as the first episode of She-Hulk is available to stream on Disney Plus.