Ahead of its impending premiere on Disney+, She Hulk head writer Jessica Gao has revealed more about what parts of the show have changed in post, and what elements have remained since its conception. In an interview with Variety, Gao talks budget constraints, expensive CGI, and how to pace the introduction of a new hero.
In writing the show, Gao admits that she didn’t have as much understanding as she might have liked around the logistics of filming such a CGI-heavy show. “When we were writing the show, I don’t think anybody really knew exactly how we were going to do this CGI character,” she explains. “From the beginning, I asked Kevin [Feige], ‘How much can we do? How cost-conscious should I be? Give me some guidelines.’ And he said, ‘If I’m gonna watch a show called She-Hulk, I want to see She-Hulk.’ That kind of was the carte blanche to just write it however I wanted.”
When budget issues did come to the fore, it required cutting more scenes involving She-Hulk. “Once we got into pre-production and production itself, once somebody had to sit down and start figuring out the cost of everything, it was like every week, I was told, ‘Can you cut more She-Hulk scenes? Can you change more She-Hulk scenes to Jen? Can she be Jen in more scenes?'” Gao explains. “Even in post, you know, we had to cut a lot of shots by virtue just because it was She-Hulk.”