Megan Thee Stallion’s Twerking ‘She-Hulk’ Cameo Was All Because of Jameela Jamil

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been all about cameos, starting way back with Samuel L. Jackson’s surprise appearance at the end of 2008’s Iron Man. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law continues this mighty Marvel tradition, packing every episode to date with Easter eggs, winks, and major guest spots. That continues with Episode 3, an installment that features a cameo from someone who is every bit as cool, confident, and intimidating as Nick Fury: Megan Thee Stallion.

Yeah, that Megan Thee Stallion. Multiple Grammy Award-winner Megan Thee Stallion. Legendary judge Megan Thee Stallion. 21st century hip hop icon Megan Thee Stallion. And thanks to a TV show starring a 6’7″ green lawyer, Megan Thee Stallion is now officially part of the Marvel Universe. It speaks to Megan’s status as an icon of icons that her popping up in an episode of a Disney+ Marvel show feels impossible — impossible in a movie-verse populated by a gun-toting raccoon, a queer rock warrior with a Kiwi accent, and a witch whose Nick at Nite obsession reached apocalyptic proportions. Seeing Megan Thee Stallion not only pop up in She-Hulk’s courtroom, but also share a scene with the jade giantess, is legit shocking — and everyone behind the scenes felt that too.

“Truly, did you ever think you would ever see [Megan Thee Stallion] in a Marvel anything?” said She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao in an interview with Decider. Sure, this is a series that’s bringing Daredevil back to television, but that’s nowhere near as surprising as Megan Thee Stallion.

It turns out that that exact feeling of disbelief is exactly what Gao and the She-Hulk team wanted to instill in viewers with this appearance. In the episode, chauvinistic and narcissistic lawyer Dennis Bukowski turns to GLK&H’s superhuman law division to represent him in a lawsuit. The lawsuit: he was swindled by a shape-shifting Asgardian Light Elf posing as Megan Thee Stallion — and it had to be Megan Thee Stallion.

“When we were writing the script, we knew that we needed a famous, beautiful, successful female celebrity for the story to work, but we didn’t know what type [of celebrity],” said Gao, pointing out that the tone of the episode’s B-plot changes dramatically if Dennis was fooled by a musician or model or actress, etc. They considered all the options before someone suggested Megan Thee Stallion. That someone? Jameela Jamil, the actor who plays She-Hulk’s nemesis Titania.

“Jameela was the one who brought up Megan because she knew her from working on Legendary,” said Gao, referencing the HBO Max reality competition series that counted Megan and Jameela Jamil as judges for two seasons. She may play a villain, but Jamil really saved the day here. “The moment we knew that we could get Megan, then we were like, ‘There’s no other discussion,'” said Gao. “‘It has to be her.'”

However, even though the show had a solid personal connection to Megan, Gao braced herself for disappointment. “When [Jameela] brought it up, we were like, ‘Don’t say it if it’s not true. Do not tease us with this. Our hearts can’t take it because we love her so much.'” All hearts remained healthy, though, because the impossible cameo became possible and then very real.

For series lead Tatiana Maslany, it was also way more than just another cameo. “I know for sure that it was Tatiana’s dream come true,” said Gao, “because she’s the biggest Megan fan in the entire universe.”

In fact, it was Maslany’s own super-fandom that inspired the episode’s post-credits scene. “Tatiana is the world’s biggest Megan fan,” said Kat Coiro, who had the honor of directing She-Hulk and Megan Thee Stallion’s impromptu office dance party scene. “That little twerking scene was actually added to give Tatiana a scene with her. And we learned that Tatiana is a great twerker too. It felt as fun as it looks.”

Maslany’s take on the scene is just as direct as She-Hulk’s praise of Megan: “It is my favorite scene that’s ever existed in the MCU,” Maslany told Decider.

However, Maslany wasn’t told about that scene until a two days before filming.

“She’s like, ‘I wrote you a scene where you’re dancing with Megan and I didn’t tell you too early because I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it. You’re gonna go into a catatonic state.’ And I was absolutely shaking, I was so excited,” Maslany recalled.

And in fact, the most hilarious moment in the end credits scene, where She-Hulk’s enthusiasm for Megan bursts forth into the former yelling, “I will kill for you, Megan Thee Stallion!” was written with Maslany specifically in mind.

“Jess wrote that because she knew I would deliver it from a deep place,” said Maslany. “She was just giving words to my fandom.”

As Maslany is very aware, the MCU is a place where fan dreams come true: the Megan Cinematic Universe.

New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiere on Disney+ on Thursdays.