Where You've Seen She-Hulk Actress Tatiana Maslany Before

For more than 50 years, comic book readers, television audiences, and swathes of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been positively enamored with the Incredible Hulk, the alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner obtains following an accident involving gamma ray exposure. But Banner isn't the only Hulk in the Marvel world — his cousin, Jennifer Walters, is a Hulk as well. Specifically, Walters is known as She-Hulk, and she's every bit as beloved as the OG Jade Giant himself.

First appearing in The Savage She-Hulk #1 in 1980, She-Hulk has developed into a fan favorite — with stints as a member of the Defenders, Fantastic Four, and even the Avengers. And as if that wasn't impressive enough, she's also a practicing attorney, frequently representing both A-listers and problematic comic book characters in the Marvel universe when the law comes a-knockin'. Empowered in the comics by an emergency blood transfusion from her immensely irradiated cousin, Walters has generally been portrayed as a funnier, calmer, occasionally fourth wall-breaking counterpart to her not-always-jolly green relative. What's more, in retaining her considerable intellect in her emerald form, Walters has had that whole "Smart Hulk" deal from Avengers: Endgame down pat for decades.

After years of patiently waiting, fans learned in July 2019 that She-Hulk is coming to the streaming platform Disney+. And following more waiting, in September 2020, it was announced that a bright star is attached to the lead role: Tatiana Maslany. 

For 50 episodes and five seasons airing between 2013 and 2017, Maslany starred on the Canadian science-fiction program Orphan Black. As for which character she played, well, that part gets complicated.

Without giving too much away, Orphan Black follows the adventures of several human clones, created and distributed around the world via unscrupulous means. More than any of her other work, Orphan Black was the show that made Maslany a star, thanks to her command performance playing nearly every clone. She pulled off flawless accents and different aesthetics in order to portray a soccer mom, a party monster, a police detective, a PhD student, and more than a dozen others. Globetrotting conspiratorial adventures ensued.

Maslany's work on Orphan Black made her a celebrity in the nerd community, while also landing her a cavalcade of awards: a pair of ACTRAs, a matching set of Critic's Choice Television Awards, half a dozen Canadian Screen Awards, and a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The show retains a dedicated fan base and has spawned a Japanese remake, a comic book, and an audio adventure. An AMC Orphan Black spin-off series was announced in 2019.

Putting aside for a moment the fact that Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) dated a character played by Louis CK for a few episodes and assuming that Jean-Ralphio Saperstein (Ben Schwartz) will die without ever knowing the feeling of a loving touch, Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford was probably the worst that the Parks and Rec universe had to offer in terms of potential boyfriends. Agonizingly self-involved while at the same time possessing no self-awareness, his character arcs had a habit of starting out at "I'm so annoying," peaking at "I should be less annoying," and then ending with the people around him accepting that he was going to keep doing baby talk once an episode.

And yet, flying in the face of sense and decency, Tom got together with Maslany's short-lived character Nadia Stasky, a doctor who really just wanted an event permit and wound up with a life full of Haverford. The relationship only lasted for two episodes before Nadia gunned it for Rwanda and was never heard from again. 

On a side note, Maslany called her time on Parks and Rec "the scariest thing [she] ever did," in an April 2014 interview with Rolling Stone. "I revere comedians more than anyone else," she explained. "They're the epitome. And to be on a show and meet Amy Poehler, it was so much fun."

During its second episode, HBO's gritty reimagining of Perry Mason introduced a compelling and terrifying new character: Sister Alice McKeegan, a charismatic evangelical preacher and faith healer from the fictional Radiant Assembly of God church. As her story progresses, Sister Alice's message turns from boilerplate Biblical stuff to something more sinister. Lines like "blessed be the attorneys who will prosecute the devil" shift subtly into "blessed be the hangman who will snap this devil's neck," eventually and inevitably swinging all the way around to claims of the ability to resurrect the dead. Of course, Sister Alice's creepy performance underpinnings come courtesy of Maslany's genius.

In a fascinating slice of Los Angeles history, the character of Sister Alice was inspired by a real celebrity revivalist preacher from the early half of the 20th century: Sister Aimee Semple McPherson. A proto-televangelist, McPherson embraced big media early, utilizing radio broadcasts as a way to drum up support for her ministry and eventually funding the creation of one of America's first evangelical megachurches. Her mysterious disappearance in 1926 — followed by her reemergence five weeks later and her remarkably dramatic recollections of having been kidnapped — caused a national stir, and debate over what actually occurred continues to this day.

HBO has already ordered a second season of Perry Mason, so expect more Tatiana Maslany on your TV screens in the near future. As for She-Hulk, sadly, the series doesn't have a set release date as of this writing.