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.
"And I said, 'That's the logic issue you have with this, Kevin? And not that [She-Hulk] breaks the ultimate fourth wall, comes to Marvel Studios, fights her way to meet you and you are an actual robot, but it’s the fact that the robot should not be wearing a hat?' And he said, 'Yeah, it doesn't make a lick of sense. So it shouldn't have a hat.'"
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."
All episodes of She-Hulk are now available to stream on Disney Plus. Next up on Marvel's small-screen slate is Secret Invasion, which is due to be released in spring 2023. In the meantime, make sure you're up to date with the MCU with our recap of Marvel Phase 4 and guides to Marvel Phase 5 and Marvel Phase 6.
