‘She-Hulk’ Director Responds to CGI Criticism

Now that Ms. Marvel has wrapped its first season, all eyes are on the next highly anticipated Marvel series coming to Disney+. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres in August, but fans have already expressed concern regarding the use of CGI in the series trailer. And those concerns weren’t without merit: the CGI for Tatiana Maslany’s transformation into She-Hulk looked unfinished and unpolished. And fans were also critical of the character’s lack of muscles, especially compared to the character design of the Hulk, with rumors that Marvel ordered a slender, less muscly design.

Director Kat Coiro (Marry Me) addressed the concerns in a new interview with SFX magazine. “It really is taking the design and asking, ‘Are we getting those facial expressions and those nuances of reaction?’” she said, adding “That is where all the time comes into play, just really honing in.” Coiro was unsurprised at the online reaction, noting “I think a lot of the reactions have to do with the fact that she is so different than anything we’ve seen, … When you think of Thanos or Hulk, they have a grisliness and a harshness and a bulkiness to them that is just so different. And when you just see a little pop of her, it’s almost shocking because we haven’t seen it before.”

Coiro worked closely with Victoria Alonso, the President of Physical, Post Production, VFX, and Animation at Marvel Studios, in the editing process to refine the look of the character. “She has such an incredible eye, and to me a lot of that eye comes from this very emotional gut reaction that she has, which is backed by decades of technical expertise.” She added, “What I think is so cool is she keeps this real emotional reaction to the VFX. Watching her work has taught me so much about why something works and why it doesn’t; why does it go into uncanny valley? And it always comes back to the actor’s performance and capturing that.”

And recently released photos show a more polished She-Hulk:

I like that they’ve kept Maslany’s facial features without straying too far into CGI territory, for exactly the same reason that Coiro explains. It’s important for the character of Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk to emote and communicate in a way that wasn’t necessarily expected for the Hulk. Marvel honed the Hulk’s facial features in Avengers: Endgame with their Smart Hulk, which allowed for a character that could believably convey emotion. I’m curious to see how the final product turns out, and I hope Marvel does right by the character and the actor.

She-Hulk premieres on August 17 on Disney+.

(via SFX Magazine, featured image: Marvel)

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