She-Hulk: Attorney at Law creator Jessica Gao revealed a surprising source of inspiration behind Marvel Studios' legal comedy series.
In an interview with Variety, Gao cited shows such as Fleabag and Better Call Saul as influences on the Disney+ show but revealed another surprising influence as well. "The other show that we talked a lot about in the writers' room was American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson," she said. "That show did such a great fantastic job of covering not only a trial, but ins and outs of everything that was happening outside of the courtroom -- the lives of all the people involved and the media scrutiny around it. All of that was just so well done."
The first season of FX's true crime anthology series American Crime Story premiered in 2016. While each season covers a different true crime story, Season 1 chronicled the aftermath of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and the subsequent murder trial of OJ Simpson (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.). While the series focused heavily on the highly publicized trial, it spent just as much time exploring the lives of its real-life subjects as they all grappled with the upsetting events that transpired. Based on Gao's statement, fans should expect to see a similar take on the legal genre in She-Hulk.
She-Hulk Steps Into the Court Room
As Gao mentioned, another source of inspiration for She-Hulk is Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag, which aired for two seasons on Prime Video. While not a legal drama like its other influences, the major similarity that Fleabag and She-Hulk share is that both shows' protagonists possess the uncanny ability to break the fourth wall. Gao admitted that she and the other writers "talked a lot about" the Emmy Award-winning comedy series while penning the Marvel show, to the point where Gao originally wanted to include even more self-awareness from the character than what the finished product will include.
Although this type of meta humor may seem like an odd choice for a Marvel series, it is an accurate portrayal of She-Hulk's comic book roots. Jennifer Walters (played by Tatiana Maslany) first began breaking the fourth wall during John Byrne's Sensational She-Hulk run in 1989. "She-Hulk has been breaking the fourth wall since way before Deadpool or Fleabag," director Kat Coiro said in a recent interview. "[S]o that concept was baked into the character even before the scripts were written." Coiro also teased the possibility of there being more to these fourth wall breaks than what meets the eye.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres on Thursday, Aug. 18. on Disney+.
Source: Variety