Thursday, September 17, 2020

SHE-HULK Casts Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters


Don't make Tatiana angry.  You wouldn't like her when she's angry.

Deadline has revealed that the upcoming Disney+/Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series She-Hulk has cast Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, the woman who becomes the sensational She-Hulk!

The news follows word that Kat Coiro will direct several episodes of She-Hulk, including the pilot, and Rick and Morty writer Jessica Gao will lead the show's writers room.

Maslany, 34, is a Canadian actress best known for playing multiple lead characters on the BBC America series Orphan Black and recently appeared on the HBO series Perry Mason as Sister Alice.  Her films include The Vow, Eastern Promises, and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, while her other TV appearances include episodes of Parks and Recreation, Alphas, Drunk History, Robot Chicken, and BoJack Horseman.

Created in 1980 by Stan Lee and John Buscema, Jennifer Walters first appeared in The Savage She-Hulk #1 as a criminal defense lawyer who is the cousin of Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and the daughter of Los Angeles County Sheriff William Morris Walters and Elaine (née Banner) Walters, who died in a car crash when Jennifer was seventeen.  

Operatives of Nicholas Trask, a crime boss who had crossed paths with her father, shot and seriously wounded her on the day that Banner visited her to tell her about his transformation into the Hulk.  Since no other donors with her blood type were available, Banner provided his own blood for a transfusion because they already shared the same blood type and DNA.  His gamma-irradiated blood, combined with Jennifer's anger, transformed her into the green-skinned She-Hulk when the mobsters tried to finish her off at the hospital.  She then used her new powers to take down Trask, who was killed when the earth-boring device he rode malfunctioned, taking him to the center of the Earth.

As She-Hulk, Jennifer possessed powers similar to those of her cousin, though at a reduced level, and possessed a less monstrous, more Amazonian appearance.  Eventually, Jennifer decided to retain her She-Hulk form permanently—preferring the freedom, confidence, and assertiveness that it gave her compared to her more timorous and fragile "normal" form.  After her brief solo career, she joined the Avengers for a time before temporarily replacing the Thing as a member of the Fantastic Four.

During the Civil War II storyline, She-Hulk was mortally wounded by a direct attack from Thanos and forced into a coma.  She eventually recovered, but due to the stress following the fight with Thanos, Jennifer started turning uncontrollably into her version of the monstrous Grey Hulk at different intervals.  Recently, She-Hulk became a member of the Avengers once again, but currently functions as brutish, green-skinned incarnation.

Maslany will be the first actress to portray Jennifer Walters in live-action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including The Incredible Hulk (1982) (voiced by Victoria Carroll), The Incredible Hulk (1996) (voiced by Lisa Zane and Cree Summer), Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (voiced by Rebecca Shoichet), The Super Hero Squad Show (voiced by Katee Sackhoff), Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Ultimate Spider-Man (voiced by Eliza Dushku), and Marvel Knights: Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk (voiced by Nicole Oliver).

She-Hulk is currently expected to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

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