She-Hulk Finale’s Kevin Cameo Has Major Comic Roots

After nine hilarious, Internet-breaking episodes, the first season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now in the books. The show, which followed Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) balancing her life as a lawyer and a newfound superhero, surprised fans at so many turns — ultimately culminating in a finale that fans had to see to believe. Spoilers for Episode 9 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, “Whose Show is This?”, below! Only look if you want to know! One of the biggest components of the finale was a cameo from “K.E.V.I.N.”, an elusive AI robot that is secretly pulling the strings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that Jen meets when she breaks the fourth wall and goes into the real world.

K.E.V.I.N. is obviously meant to be a nod to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, taking the meta nature of She-Hulk to new heights — and continuing the trend of superhero characters “meeting their maker.”

DC Comics With Creator Cameos

While the trope has popped up a lot since superhero comics began to resurge in popularity during the Silver Age, it arguably prominently began with 1958’s The Flash #179. The issue saw Barry Allen / The Flash accidentally traveling from Earth-One to Earth-Prime, the classification for our “real world.” There, he discovers that his exploits are the subject of a comic book, and works together with real-life DC editor Julius Schwartz to rebuild his cosmic treadmill and return home.

Later, Barry’s cohorts in the Justice League of America arrived on Earth-Prime in Justice League of America #123, where they crossed paths with writers Cary Bates and Elliot S. Maggin. Through a convoluted plot involving the villain The Wizard, Bates manipulates the League into killing their fellow superheroes, but the day is ultimately saved nonetheless. The Earth-Prime saga is regarded to have “concluded” with Superman #411, which saw the Man of Steel taking the dying Earth-One version of Schwartz to meet his Earth-Prime counterpart.

Marvel Comics With Creator Cameos

Back on the Marvel side, there’s also a history of similar instances, including Dr. Doom running into the Marvel offices to confront Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in Fantastic Four #10, writer Steve Gerber becoming a fixture in his Howard the Duck run, and writer Peter David folding into The Incredible Hulk.

Jen kept the tradition going in spades, particularly in the Sensational She-Hulk era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Throughout the run, Jen would voice her complaints about certain creative decisions in the book — particularly to writer-artist John Byrne, even evoking his name countless times. Towards the end of Byrne’s stint on the book, Jen was regularly marching into the Marvel offices (where Jen had “licensed” her name and likeness to be used in the very comic fans were reading) to complain to Byrne and editor Renee Witterstaetter. This culminated in Jen helping Marvel find a new creative team when Byrne was taken off of the title in Sensational She-Hulk #50.

Kevin Feige in Marvel Comics

Oddly enough, the She-Hulk finale isn’t the first time that Feige has been included into the world of Marvel Comics — he appeared (in non-robot form) in 2021’s X-Men: Hellfire Gala one-shot, engaging in a brief conversation with Scott Summers / Cyclops, and breaking the brains of Marvel fans in the process.

The first season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now available to stream exclusively on Disney+. If you haven’t checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

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