One of the biggest swings Marvel Studios took in recent years was the 2022 Disney+ show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. It was a fourth-wall-breaking, meta-comedy with Tatiana Maslany playing the titular character, whose appearance was an expensive special effect. We here at io9 loved the show, but not everyone felt that way, and in the years since, most involved have given up hope of it returning.
Most, except the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum.
Speaking to the Escape Pod on YouTube, Winderbaum briefly discussed his love of the show and dropped the surprising news that many, many other people liked it too. “I’ll tell you this about She-Hulk,” he said. “That’s one of our best-performing shows. It just hit the general audience. So there was a mismatch between fan response and audience response.” The exchange is at 1:12:00, which we’ve cued up here.
Ask most Marvel fans about She-Hulk, and even if they loved it, they are likely to assume not many people watched it. That’s just always been the vibe. But, according to Winderbaum, that’s not the case at all, and we find that fascinating.
Think about this. If She-Hulk were really one of Marvel’s “best performing shows,” why has there never been a real buzz about bringing it back? Sure, we’ve heard all about how expensive it was, so that part makes sense. But putting that aside, if Winderbaum is saying a large “general audience” watched it, but those people just weren’t big “fans,” who cares? Isn’t anyone watching a show the main measure of success? If Marvel not only wants lots of people to watch a show, but also wants them to be the right people, it says a lot. Marvel must put more weight on what hardcore fans think about a show rather than the average person who tuned in just to see Megan Thee Stallion or something.
But knowing the show did have a fan base, whoever those fans may have been, gives Winderbaum’s next statement a bit more optimism. “I would love the opportunity to make more She-Hulk,” he said. “Honestly. Hopefully one day. Maybe.”
When we woke up today, we figured new episodes of She-Hulk were more of a “no way, ever” type of thing. So “hopefully one day” is much better than that.
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