Tatiana Maslany nabs 'She-Hulk' role: what you need to know

Watch: Tatiana Maslany lands coveted ‘She Hulk’ role

Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany has landed the lead role in the Marvel TV series She-Hulk for Disney+.

Deadline reports that the 34-year-old Canadian actor will portray attorney Jennifer Walters — cousin of Bruce Banner — and her powerful, green alter ego in the character’s live-action debut.

The show is part of a range of MCU offerings coming to Disney+ in the next few years, alongside The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Loki.

Read more: Filming resumes on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

GLOW star Alison Brie had long been rumoured for the role of She-Hulk, while Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo once said that Thor: Ragnarok co-star Tessa Thompson would be his dream choice.

Ruffalo — who has played Bruce Banner since The Avengers in 2012 — welcomed Maslany’s casting on Twitter, bidding her a “welcome to the family” as he shared the news.

Who is Tatiana Maslany?

Maslany is, of course, best known for portraying multiple cloned characters in the Canadian thriller series Orphan Black. She won an Emmy for her work on the show in 2016 and has scooped numerous awards, as well as nominations for Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

Read more: Maslany landed on Star Wars shortlist

The show served as a breakout for her and has led to film roles in movies like Woman in Gold, in which she played the younger version of Helen Mirren’s character. Since then, she has played the lead female role alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the hard-hitting drama Stronger, about the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Maslany also appears in the Nicole Kidman thriller Destroyer as the girlfriend of a gang leader.

Now, a major role in the MCU looks set to take her acting career to the next level.

Who is She-Hulk?

She-Hulk was the last character created by Stan Lee on his prolific run with Marvel, with the comics icon writing the debut issue of The Savage She-Hulk in 1980. Jennifer Walters is an attorney shot by a crime lord who can only be saved by a blood transfusion. The only compatible donor is her cousin, Bruce Banner, who was heading to tell her about his transformation into The Incredible Hulk. As a result of the transfusion, Jennifer acquires many of the same powers as Bruce, but is able to maintain more of her intelligence and personality.

Read more: Ruffalo still keen for solo Hulk movie

Initially, the transformation from Jennifer to She-Hulk was also triggered by anger, but she was eventually able to gain control and ultimately opted to make the change permanent. She is a trained martial artist and a formidable combatant, even in her non-green form. Jennifer also uses her legal training in the comics, acting as counsel for others superheroes.

She has been a member of various superhero teams during her comics tenure, including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. For a while, she was also written with a meta awareness of being in a comic book and the ability to break the fourth wall.

What do we know about the She-Hulk show?

She-Hulk is due to arrive on Disney+ in 2022, though production is yet to get going.

Veteran TV director Kat Coiro — best known for Dead To Me, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Brooklyn Nine-Nine — has been signed on as an executive producer and will direct the pilot, along with several other episodes. Rick and Morty writer Jessica Gao is in charge of the writers’ room.

Little is known about the plot and Ruffalo’s involvement has not been officially announced. Certainly, if the show wants to depict the origin of She-Hulk, it’s difficult to pull that off without Bruce Banner. It seems Ruffalo is open to it, telling Variety earlier this year it would be “really interesting” to be involved.

Watch: Mark Ruffalo wouldn’t mind if the ‘Hulk’ has a cameo in ‘She-Hulk’