The Marvel Cinematic Universe is no stranger to the hype behind its cameo appearances, particularly as Phase 4 has progressed forward over the past couple of years. This continues to be the case with the MCU's latest release, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which has already promised an impressive number of characters coming from across the Marvel Studios landscape.
Ahead of the series' debut, Benedict Wong's Wong was confirmed to continue his Phase 4 journey in his fourth appearance since last year, which was later proven true in the second full trailer. And on top of that, substantial hype is building to see Charlie Cox's return as Matt Murdock, which will also include his first time donning the Daredevil suit in Phase 4 of the MCU.
But even besides those two characters, there is substantial anticipation building for other Marvel cameos throughout the show's nine-episode run, some of it almost overshadowing the show itself as a whole. And in response to that, head writer/producer Jessica Gao took a moment to caution fans about leaning too hard into that anticipation for cameo appearances.
She-Hulk Producer on MCU Cameo Hype
Speaking with Life Hacker, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law head writer Jessica Gao addressed the potential and confirmed cameos that the latest MCU show on Disney+ could include.
Looking back to cameos like Jonathan Majors' He Who Remains in Loki and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin in Hawkeye, both in their final episodes, Gao warned fans to not get their hopes up for other major cameos like these:
“Do not set yourself up with big expectations to be disappointed."
Gao also spoke with TV Line about the show's preliminary ideas for Spider-Man, confirming that the team knew "Spider-Man was a no-go" from the start. She hoped to bring some of the other Spider-Man supporting characters into play later, but it seemed clear early in the process that this was something that couldn't happen:
“We knew innately that Spider-Man was a no-go. We thought maybe some of the other characters in Spider-Man might be fun to bring into our world, but we were told pretty early on that that was impossible, so we didn’t really go too far down the road. We just had a couple of Spider-Man supernerds in our room who dare to dream!”
Gao reiterated this fact in an exclusive interview with The Direct, expressing her disappointment that the team wasn't allowed to use Spider-Man in this series.
Gao also looked at the Abomination's place in She-Hulk during a chat with ComicBook, where she confirmed how much of the story was built around the veteran MCU villain. She also referenced his appearance in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, sharing how important it was for his eventual inclusion in this Disney+ series:
“Because he was built in to be such a big part of the show in that original pitch and in the writer’s room, we really like, we were creating this whole story for him. Because everything in Marvel is connected, that was actually why he then was put in Shang-Chi because he was in our show. That way, it was kind of to seed him so that people can get excited but also remember him and it kind of forced people to go, ‘Oh, I should go back and check in on him and remember who he is and what all of that was about.’”
Will Cameo Hype Lead to Fan Letdown?
While Marvel Studios has always been known for interconnectivity within the MCU, Phase 4 has taken that concept to new levels seemingly with each new release. From the Abomination and Wong in Shang-Chi to the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it's almost becoming standard for each new entry to bring some kind of shocking reveal on that level.
But with She-Hulk's place as a half-hour legal comedy that could potentially bring in these kinds of cameo appearances, it appears that the crew behind the show doesn't want fans to build their anticipation to unmanageable levels.
More than anything, She-Hulk is about the story of Jennifer Walters' introduction into the MCU, setting up a heroine that could potentially play a huge role in the recently-confirmed Avengers movies coming in Phase 6. While it's certainly exciting that the show is bringing in big cameos, Jessica Gao made it clear that fans only tuning in for these characters won't get the best experience out of watching the series.
With eight episodes still remaining and a few big characters that could potentially make their way into the story, She-Hulk herself will be the central focus moving forward as the MCU's last Disney+ show of the year expands.
Episode 1 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+. Episode 2 will debut on Thursday, August 25.
