Marvel’s Phase 4 was its awkward phase: the first signs of chinks in the armor, both critically and at the box office, along with a heap of newly introduced characters and dangling post-credit teases, many of which are collecting dust or have seemingly been forgotten. One of its most beloved characters, She-Hulk, has had little traction or momentum since her debut, and while it’s unclear when or if she’ll return, the actor who played her, Tatiana Maslany, has some interesting thoughts about the experience of working within Marvel’s enormous franchise machinery.
In an unusually candid interview with Backstage for her acclaimed Apple TV series “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”, Maslany offered a candid perspective on the creative pressures that often come with massive productions. Asked to compare her experiences leading “Orphan Black,” “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,” and her latest series, Maslany discussed how differently she approached each role and the challenges of working on something so big, with so many outside pressures and expectations.
“With ‘She-Hulk,’ there are so many factors that go into those big, big, big freaking things that are just, like, totally devoid of, like, artistry and pull you so far away from, like, who you are and your impulses and all of that,” Maslany said. “And it’s like a machine.”
READ MORE: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’ Review: A More Humorous & Hornier Marvel Affair
She also described the outside scrutiny that can accompany productions of that scale, particularly around appearance.
“There’s outside eyes looking at you,” she said. “Are you thin enough? Are you blah, blah, blah? Like, all of this pressure.”
Maslany contrasted that experience with playing Paula in “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” explaining that the more intimate series gave her a greater sense of artistic freedom.
“I as an actor felt quite liberated by that,” she explained. “I felt like, oh, I’m telling the truth about what it is to be a woman.”
She continued, describing how she had become more comfortable with herself as an actor and no longer felt beholden to those external judgments.
“I’m going to look like what I look like. I’m not going to worry about that other thing.”
It’s also worth noting that Maslany isn’t necessarily criticizing the artistic merits of “She-Hulk,” nor is she suggesting everyone involved lacked creativity. Instead, she seems to be reflecting on the enormous machinery surrounding franchise filmmaking, how much of it exists outside an actor’s control, and how those pressures can interfere with the creative process. It’s a candid observation, but arguably not a sweeping denunciation of Marvel.
Interestingly, “She-Hulk” creator Jessica Gao expressed something remarkably similar back in 2022. Speaking with Variety about the show’s complicated VFX process, Gao described Marvel as a machine with established systems that left little room for creative input once production was underway.
“The machine just gets rolling,” Gao said. “You can try to insert yourself as much as you can, but at a certain point, you’re forced to get out of the way.”
Indeed, Marvel’s unusual approach to producing television drew considerable scrutiny in 2023, with reports that Gao had been sidelined during production and the company was rethinking its creative process.
This wasn’t the first time Maslany had spoken candidly about Marvel, Disney, or even CEO Bob Iger. During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, she called Iger “completely out of touch” after he commented on the labor stoppage. She also criticized Disney’s treatment of workers, saying, “Having worked on a Disney show, I know where people fall through the cracks and where people are taken advantage of.”
And in early 2024, when asked whether “She-Hulk” would return for a second season, Maslany didn’t sound particularly optimistic.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I think we blew our budget, and Disney was like, ‘No thanks.’”
However, Maslany has also expressed plenty of affection for the character and the people who made the series. In fact, speaking with The Playlist earlier this year, she said she’d be open to Jennifer Walters appearing in a larger MCU crossover, provided someone like Gao was involved to preserve the character’s tone and sensibility.
“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,” Maslany explained.
She also joked about the sometimes hostile reaction to the series: “I think people would be so mad at me being on their screens again.”
Marvel Television executive Brad Winderbaum, meanwhile, said earlier this year that the show had performed well with general audiences despite the online backlash and that he would love to make more. Whether that enthusiasm translates into anything concrete remains to be seen. Maslany, for her part, doesn’t sound opposed to returning, though she’s clearly more aware than ever of the machinery she’d be stepping back into.
“Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” is streaming on Apple TV. “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law” is available on Disney+. Listen to the full interview below.
