She-Hulk Was Created Because Of Stan Lee’s Paranoia

Good news for anyone who ever secretly wished that Ally McBeal had been exposed to near-lethal levels of gamma radiation; a trailer just dropped for Marvel’s quirky legal drama She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, based on the classic comic book character … and seemingly two decades’-worth of erotic Shrek slash fiction. 

But She-Hulk would never have existed without legendary Marvel writer and editor Stan Lee … and his paranoia concerning intellectual property rights. Back in the ‘70s, Universal famously produced The Incredible Hulk, the hit TV series chronicling the adventures of Dr. David (definitely not Bruce) Banner and his giant green alter-ego – yes, there was a time when Marvel-based entertainment simply consisted of a shirtless bodybuilder rassling dudes at a car wash. 

Lee soon “became worried” that Universal would create a “female Hulk” character for television, following the success of the Six Million Dollar Man spin-off The Bionic Woman. Not wanting to be screwed out of the potential rights to this completely hypothetical character, Lee's commissioned the Marvel comics team, according to writer David Anthony Kraft, “created a character called the She-Hulk” and crank the first issue out “in the next thirty seconds.” Hence why the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk is a rushed story involving Bruce Banner giving his cousin a, perhaps ill-advised, blood transfusion.

This anecdote also serves as a reminder that one reason why we’re getting a She-Hulk series, with the original Hulk being relegated to yet another supporting role, is because of that old school deal with Universal; while Marvel has the rights to include Bruce Banner in other MCU projects, Universal has the first crack at distributing any “solo Hulk movies.” Whether or not Universal has the option of shoehorning Hulk into any Jurassic World or Fast & Furious movies remains to be seen.

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Top Image: Marvel Studios