She-Hulk: Attorney at Law just rounded out its nine-episode first season run on Diseny+ with one of the most creative and bizarre finales in MCU history. But it wasn't just in the concluding episode that the Marvel Studios series broke convention from the superhero playbook.
The legal comedy served as a commentary on the comic book genre as a whole while breaking boundaries in the MCU, by introducing the likes of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock in his return as Marvel's Man Without Fear. It was a creative left turn for the franchise that had its funny bone on full display, showing "a lighter side" to characters like Daredevil and Emil Blonsky who have only been depicted in a serious light up to this point.
And it turns out that even more characters from the Daredevil comics could have shown up in the project, but ultimately did not make the cut for one reason or another.
Stilt Man and Matador in She-Hulk
According to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law writer Zeb Wells, Daredevil villains Stilt Man and the Matador almost appeared in the Disney+ series.
Speaking to Comicbook.com at New York Comic-Con, the Marvel writer revealed that initially there were a few other characters staying at Emil Blonsky's retreat in the show. Wells noted that "Stilt-Man was probably thrown in there at one point:"
“Yes, for sure. We went through a lot of them. I think Stilt-Man was probably thrown in there at one point.”
She also remarked that the character Saracan "started off as someone else [the [production] couldn’t get for some reason," mentioning that he started out as "The Matador" but they ultimately couldn't use him:
“Saracen, he started off as someone else we couldn’t get for some reason. I think there is a character at Marvel called ‘The Matador’ and we couldn’t use him [laughs].”
One of the reasons that Stilt Man particularly likely could not be used may have had to do with the current rights holder of the character. At the moment it is assumed that Sony owns the rights to the character as on the comic page he is a member of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery. And if Spider-Man himself couldn't appear in the title, then why would one of his lesser-known villains?
On the She-Hulk Cutting Room Floor
While it is likely no one is hurting that The Matador and Stilt Man didn't make it into She-Hulk in the end, it is funny to lament that these characters were even considered.
There were a lot of deep cuts that made it into the Marvel streaming series, but these two villains could have been the deepest among them. But there is always the potential for more.
It is still unknown if She-Hulk will be getting a second season, but if the costumed comedy does come back, there will be a need for even more of these easter eggs. So just because Stilt Man and The Matador were left on the sidelines this time around, doesn't mean that will be the case next time around.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is available to stream now on Disney+.
