Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law delivered arguably the most unique season finale of any Disney+ show to date, substituting the classic MCU action sequences for an unprecedented fourth-wall-breaking adventure. This was ramped up to new levels when Jennifer Walters found herself in Marvel Studios' offices standing face-to-face with the AI KEVIN, the in-universe mastermind behind the MCU that was modeled after studio president Kevin Feige.
This moment allowed She-Hulk to revisit some of the biggest moments and heroes in MCU history as the titular heroine deeply analyzed the MCU formula in the episode itself while trying to rewrite her own story.
This led her to a confrontation with KEVIN as she debated the state of the entire MCU with the advanced piece of artificial intelligence. The machine came complete with a robot-sounding voice that debated the ending of She-Hulk Season 1 with She-Hulk herself. But according to the show's head writer, the team wanted another voice for the Kevin Feige-inspired intelligence apparatus.
Kevin Feige's She-Hulk Episode 9 Refusal
Speaking with ComicBook's Phase Zero Podcast, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law head writer Jessica Gao went into detail about the introduction of the robot KEVIN in Episode 9.
Gao confirmed that this AI wasn't voiced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, even though she and the team "campaigned very hard" to make that happen. In the end, Feige refused the offer to voice the character:
“That is not Kevin [Feige’s] voice, that is a voice actor we used… We campaigned very hard for Kevin to do the voice and he refused…
She later explained that there were "so many versions of this finale," although it was always going to include several fourth-wall breaks "inspired by the (John) Byrne [comic] run," in which Jennifer Walters expressed her own opinions about the story she was telling.
Comicbook: “… KEVIN, right? Did he voice himself? Was that the boss man? I hear he had issues with the hat. That you guys had to redesign the hat. How did you guys think of KEVIN? The Notorious himself.”
Gao: “(laughs) That’s great. We went through so many versions of this finale, but… And I don’t remember what kicked it off but, I remember pitching that She-Hulk… you know, because this show is so meta and it was always going to be about breaking the fourth wall, and it was always so inspired by the Byrne run where she had opinions on her story, where she wanted to actively yell at her creators, and change things when she didn’t like what was going on…
Initially, she'd pitched that She-Hulk should go through the Disney Studios lot to find KEVIN and end up coming in front of "a super handsome debonair, like a George Clooney or a Jon Hamm in a tuxedo" instead of the machine. But then, the idea of including the artificial intelligence came to mind, which led Gao to keep pushing the idea even further until she almost went off the rails with it:
"I pitched that she goes to Marvel Studios, the Disney lot to go speak to Kevin. And I initially pitched that she goes through all the security, and... then goes into his office, and we stunt-cast it with a super handsome debonair, like a George Clooney or a Jon Hamm in a tuxedo, and drinking a martini, and that was Kevin. And then I was like, ‘Wait, no. It should be: she gets through all the security, and you get in, and it’s this like Akira-style, giant AI brain, and that’s pulsing, and that’s Kevin.’ And then I was like, ‘Wait, I can even beat that pitch.’ We get through all the security, we go into a room, and there’s a throne, and there’s just a little puppy on a pillow. And then, [one of the writers], Zeb Wells, just lost his mind and… jumped out of his seat, started screaming at me and was like, ‘What are we talking about here?! Kevin’s a puppy? What are we doing here?’ And that’s when I knew I went too far. We’ll just do the last pitch I had. I had to keep pushing it. I had to keep pushing it. And I needed someone to tell me that was too far."
Kevin Feige Says No to True She-Hulk Cameo
Kevin Feige actually appearing in an MCU project is certainly the square on many fans' bingo boards that most didn't expect to be crossed, even though She-Hulk came dangerously close to making it happen. In the end, even while the team behind Episode 9 pushed hard for it to happen, Feige seemed perfectly content remaining behind the scenes and allowing the robotic entity to shine as much on its own as it possibly could.
But throughout the entire process, Gao and her team were focused on bringing an episode that truly paid tribute to She-Hulk's nature in the comics as one of the most meta characters Marvel has to offer. Fans had seen Jennifer Walters break the fourth wall on numerous occasions throughout the series, and in the , she took that concept further than ever by literally smashing through that wall to rectify the way she'd been slighted.
Whether Kevin Feige ever makes a true cameo in the MCU is a mystery, but with this report from Gao, that seems like one of the most unlikely things that will ever come for the franchise under Feige's watch.
All nine episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are available to stream on Disney+.
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