She-Hulk head writer almost quit over a Kevin Feige robot detail

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"I said, 'Kevin, if you don’t let me put a hat on that robot, then I quit'"

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao almost came to blows with Marvel boss Kevin Feige about one detail in the show's finale – whether the robot K.E.V.I.N. should wear a hat. Based on Feige himself, Gao wanted the AI to have a baseball cap, a staple of Feige's own wardrobe. However, Feige wasn't a fan of the idea.

"In the first draft [of the finale script], I described the robot as an Akira meets a HAL 9000-like AI brain/robot, and the script specifically said that it's wearing a little black baseball cap on top. And real-life Kevin said, 'Well, that doesn't make any sense. Why would a robot wear a hat?'" Gao told The Hollywood Reporter. 

She continued: "I was incensed, and in this big meeting, in front of like 20 people, I said, 'Kevin, if you don't let me put a hat on that robot, then I quit.' And then there was a split-second pause, and he just went, 'Thank you very much, Jessica. You've done some great work for us, and we really appreciate everything.'"

It was the head of the show's visual development department who came up with a solution to appease both Gao and Feige: "Jackson Sze, who was head of the vis-dev team and ever the mediator, very gently suggested that they incorporate something into the design of the robot that would make it look like it was wearing a hat, and that was the perfect compromise."

Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.