Gina Carano Could Replace Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk in ‘Secret Wars’, After Actress Reportedly Exits Role
When Disney+ launched She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in 2022, expectations for a Marvel series centered on the mostly unknown Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk, were hardly sky-high. And, unsurprisingly, what viewers got was a hot mess. Cringe humor, poor writing, and bad CGI became the most common complaints.
A second season was swiftly scrapped, which actress Tatiana Maslany, who played the title character, attributed to the crew “blowing their budget.” Either way, it doesn’t look like She-Hulk is expected to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon. And her absence is especially notable from next year’s crossover event film, Avengers: Doomsday.
Doomsday‘s extensive cast includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), and Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), as well as several returning X-Men actors. But Maslany’s not-so-jolly green Hulkster is missing.
Earlier this year, Maslany publicly urged fans to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions after ABC, a Disney-owned network, temporarily suspended talk show host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about the public assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Though her absence from Doomsday could be related, it’s very unlikely She-Hulk — a character who didn’t go down well with fans — was ever going to appear in that film anyway. It’s also unlikely that such a disliked character is being held back as a cameo in Avengers: Doomsday, especially given Maslany’s grievances with the company.
Meanwhile, according to insider My Time to Shine (via Geek Tyrant), Maslany “has no interest” in working with Disney. Although the report adds that the studio wants the character to appear “in a big way” in Avengers: Secret Wars, the sequel to Doomsday.
“Marvel Studios wanted to use She-Hulk in a big way for Avengers Secret Wars. The problem is that Tatiana Maslany has no interest in working for Disney. If they’re unable to convince her to return, the options are to remove the character altogether or recast the role.”
Related: Deadpool Quietly Replaces She-Hulk in Disney+ Marvel Update
Given Maslany’s reluctance to work with Disney, there’s nothing stopping them from recasting She-Hulk at some point in the future. After all, the MCU has recast many characters over the years, including Jennifer Walters’ cousin Bruce Banner himself, who was played by Edward Norton in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk but was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in 2012’s The Avengers.
But who else could play Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk? Enter Gina Carano, the ex-MMA fighter who played the fan-favorite character Cara Dune in Disney+’s The Mandalorian.
Related: Disney Could Be Forced To Bring Gina Carano Back To ‘Star Wars’ Following Recent Settlement
While Carano also has her own troubled history with Disney after being fired from the hit Star Wars show in 2021 for sharing controversial social media posts that led the Deadpool actress filing a lawsuit against the company, they reached a settlement earlier this year.
Whether or not it’s all water under the bridge now is unclear, but Gina Carano’s combination of physicality and star power makes her a perfect candidate for She-Hulk. For now, it remains to be seen what happens with the Marvel character, and also whether Carano would ever work for Disney again.
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