She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's finale was absolutely, unashamedly bonkers. Jennifer Walters quite literally broke out of her own show to rewrite the episode, switching out what looked to be a chaotic final battle for the lawyer to get what she wanted for a change (including a week with Matt Murdock).
Of course, before we could get to that happy ending, Jen needed to meet K.E.V.I.N., the A.I. in charge of Marvel Studios' oft-criticised formulaic storytelling.
"I think I probably wrote like, 20 versions of a finale that went all over the place and I started feeling like, 'Well, this is a Marvel show, I better give them the classic Marvel ending,'" Head Writer Jessica Gao tells Marvel.com. "Big villain fight, big finale. But it never felt right because I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole."
After a conversation with the real Kevin Feige, Gao realised the possibility was there to do something different. "He was like, 'Why? No one's telling you to do that, you don't have to do that, you can do something completely different, we should be doing something completely different because this show is so different from anything that Marvel has done.'"
"It felt natural that not only that she was in a show, but that she would have opinions about the show, especially since she just was completely betrayed by the makers of this show," the writer continues. "It just felt right that she would go and complain to the ultimate lord of Marvel, which is K.E.V.I.N.."
That meta-ending has divided fans, though it certainly felt pretty on-brand for She-Hulk. It also lines up with what happened during John Byrne's comic book run, something Gao confirms was a big inspiration in the finale.
"This feels right for this show. This is not the right ending for every show, but this is the right ending for this show. We could not have been more clear about what this show is."
"From day one, we've been very upfront and honest about what kind of show this is, what the expectations for the show will be," she makes clear. "And for some reason, people love to not believe that...even though we've been telling them for months now that this is what the show is going to be."
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law definitely jumped the shark, for better or worse. Fans have embraced the character, though, and all signs point to her having a bright future in the MCU. We'd guess that these fourth-wall breaks will be confined to her own series, though Marvel Studios has yet to confirm whether they're moving forward with a second season.
What did you guys think about the finale's big twists?