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‘She-Hulk’ Star Tatiana Maslany Calls Out ‘Weird’ Body Standards for Female Marvel Superheroes

Samantha Bergeson
·2-min read

The “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” actress is calling out the “cultural obsession” with female superheroes being extra ripped.

“I think that there’s a cultural obsession with the certain physique that goes along with these movies sometimes,” Maslany told Entertainment Tonight. “I certainly fell prey to that idea, and I definitely don’t think it’s a thing that we should be pursuing because it’s just these weird standards that none of us can actually keep up with unless we’re going to the gym 1,000 times a week.”

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Maslany stars as Jennifer Walters, aka the titular She-Hulk, in the Disney+ Marvel series, now streaming.

“What I love about She-Hulk is that she represents a different body and a different perception from the outside,” Maslany said. “How people see her is so much a part of her story…That to me is really exciting conversation that can happen around this, which is: How do we look at someone differently depending on the body that they inhabit?”

Maslany added of her character, “She’s very self-deprecating. She’s kind of got this superhero thing on top of her, but she’s a very insecure person who is obsessed with her job and trying to pretend she’s not a superhero.”

The “Orphan Black” Emmy winner previously spoke out on the “reductive” stereotype of being a “strong female lead” in a series.

“It’s just as much a shaving off of all the nuances, and just as much of a trope,” Maslany recently said. “It’s a box that nobody fits into. Even the phrase is frustrating. It’s as if we’re supposed to be grateful that we get to be that.”

“She-Hulk” director Kat Coiro also addressed the backlash to the show’s CGI effects during the Television Critics Association press tour for the series.

“In terms of the CGI being critiqued, I think that has to do with our culture’s belief in its ownership of women’s bodies,” Coiro said during the TCAs. “I think a lot of the critique comes from feeling like they’re able to tear apart the CGI woman. There’s a lot of talk about her body type, and we based it on Olympian athletes and not bodybuilders. But I think if we had gone the other way, we would be facing the same critique. I think it’s very hard to win when you make women’s bodies.”

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