Digital Domain

Owning the Narrative on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Thanks to a rabid fanbase, every new Marvel Studios release comes with a load of expectations. Will they cast the perfect actor? Will the villain look right? Will the visual effects wow viewers, even on the small screen? Unfortunately, on some projects the story blows up in ways that are hard to predict; just take a look at the unfairly maligned She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Fortunately, there is always a way to reframe the issue if you’re savvy enough. It’s all about knowing which journalists to talk to—and, more importantly, what will resonate with them.

Even before the first trailer aired, the Disney+ series received heavy criticism. So, we sat down with the team at Digital Domain for a deep dive into the project. We saw two crucial pieces missing from those negative stories. First, She-Hulk was one of the first live-action, photoreal female characters, presenting her own set of challenges, like how her long hair would move, and the impact of certain clothes on her body. Second, the new series took the process DD initially built for award-winning character Thanos and made it faster and better. They walked us through some proprietary tools they had created, including a particularly interesting clothing system, and we knew that the way to change the narrative was to highlight the team’s ingenuity and get the artists out there to show how it worked.

We also knew we needed a champion who really understood the industry and the tech. We went to respected journalist Ian Failes, and it didn’t take long for him to realize what an amazing job the VFX team had done in a limited amount of time. Ian penned a great piece, and the ripples began to spread as it was syndicated and/or referenced by mainstream press. Sites that had been on the fence, like CBR and ComicBook.com, asked for interviews. One of the show’s biggest critics, influential site We Got This Covered, completely changed their tune. And a new wave of more thoughtful, positive press began as the media gave the artists the respect they deserved—just as it should be.