Kat Coiro tells how she spoke with Argentina’s Victoria Alonso, president of Marvel. “I learned a lot from her. She’s a master of her trade.” AFP photo
-Have you had many conversations with Victoria Alonso, the executive president of Marvel Studios’ physical production?
-So many … I learned a lot from Victoria. She is a master of her craft. And what really impressed me about Victoria is that she’s been doing it for so long, she’s worked on so many films, yet she still reacts from a very emotional place to visual effects.
The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) has to teach his cousin how to manage his anger.
And I think what makes visual effects good is if they connect with the artists’ performances. Capture the heart of the story? Tell the story? And it really taught me a lot about how to navigate the world of visual effects from an emotional place.
-And what is the working system like, the creation process before shooting?
Well, we’ve had months and months to build the world, design the look of the series. I wanted it to be very grounded in reality. And of course our reality turns out to be the MCU, which has all these superheroes running around.
A look at what the Hulk’s secret laboratory is like.
But that said, it’s still Los Angeles, modern and present day. It was really about capturing something real so that you could add these weird elements and still feel like the story was recognizable on a very human level. And designing She-Hulk herself was an important part of the world building process. And, you know, we were able to design the Hulk’s secret lab, which was really fun …
The cover of number 1 of “The Savage She-Hulk”, created by Stan Lee and published in February 1980. Photo shoot
-I know you were a “She-Hulk” fan as a kid. When you found out they were going to do the series, what did you submit to Marvel Studios to direct it?
-I had already met Marvel, about the possibility of working together. and when it appeared she Hulk, it was perfect, because I had a personal connection with her and because I have a background in comedy. And this is Marvel’s first foray into a half-hour sitcom format. Yes. It really was a dream come true at that level.
Mark Ruffalo was at the premiere. Here, together with director Kat Coiro, who surprised in this interview talking about the Hulk. AFP photo
-And what exactly did you mean to contribute to the MCU through “She-Hulk”?
-I wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a superhero. And yes, we have high thriller action scenes, and yes, we have villains and villains. But above all, we have a woman in her thirties who navigates her life, her career, her friends of hers, her family and these superpowers that she didn’t ask for and that she doesn’t want much of. And it was really about capturing small, intimate, comical moments and balancing them with a cinematic realm that is a hallmark of the MCU.
Tim Roth is a bad host, but with a lot of presence in the series. Here, like Emil Blonsky, but when he becomes Abomination …
– “She-Hulk” may be Stan Lee’s latest great creation. Have you got to talk to him in the past?
-I never had a chance to talk to Stan Lee, but I hope I made him proud.
Stanley Martin Lieber or Stan Lee. He died at the age of 95, in 2018. Photo Bloomberg / Clarín Archive
-The way Jennifer Walters becomes She-Hulk is different from the comic, where Jennifer is injured and receives an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce. Why this change now in the series?
-Well, one thing that was very important to us was to capture the essence of the character, the dry, witty, self-referential and self-aware elements that break the fourth wall. But we never set out to recreate the comic. It was truly a reinterpretation and reinvention while remaining very faithful to the character himself.
The first copies of “She-Hulk” sold for 50 cents. photo capture
-Maybe “She-Hulk” isn’t one of the most popular characters, at least in Argentina, or in the Marvel Universe. Many of those who now know Jennifer and She-Hulk might say “Wow, there’s a lot of comedy,” but in the Stan Lee original he already had humor.
-Absolutely. The comic is full of humor and is full of this idea of taking control of your own narrative. And so we really wanted to catch him. And, you know, to me, as a child, she was the most attractive of all characters, because I could see a little bit of me in her. And he looked so different from all the other characters. And my hope is that a younger generation will watch this show and say, wow, I see something of me in it.
Though she won an Emmy for a drama series, Tatiana Maslany spent ten years improvising comedies. And you can see it.
-And speaking of the original, maybe we can say the same about Jennifer, who broke the fourth wall, right? and talk to him, address the public directly …
-Yup. It’s something we would always do and it’s essential to the character, because part of his superpowers is that she gets tall, strong and green, but she also gains a new sense of self-awareness. And we explore it throughout the arc of the series.
Animation? Hulk explains to his cousin the inconveniences of being conquered by anger …
-And as a Marvel fan, I have to ask you what do you think, since the first Iron Man movie, Bruce Banner hasn’t managed to get a movie or series of his own? What do you think?
-I agree with you. I think he is crazy. And we need a full Hulk movie. And then She-Hulk can become his cousin and they can live the adventures of the Hulk together.
The director with the protagonist of the series, the Canadian Tatiana Maslany. photo EFE
-You will continue to be connected with Disney, directing a couple of episodes of “The Spiderwick Chronicles”. In what state is the series at the moment?
-Well, I’m an executive producer and I’m directing the first two episodes. We are currently in pre-production and will start shooting very soon.
Kat directed Jennifer Lopez, Maluma and Owen Wilson in the hit “Marry Me,” which was released in February of this year. Clarin photo archive
-My last question: After directing Jennifer Lopez in “Marry Me”, I have to ask you if you attended the wedding with Ben Affleck, or if you spoke to her after the wedding.
– I didn’t attend the wedding, but I sent my sincere congratulations. And I’m very happy for both of them. They are so sweet together in real life. And it’s a fairy tale come true …
Paul O. Scholz
Source: Clarin
