‘She-Hulk’ Actor Rhys Cairo Performed Magic Tricks Before His Episode 4 Appearance

Episode 4 of She-Hulk: Lawyer introduced viewers to Donny Blaze (Rhys Cairo), a magician who misuses mystical arts. While the mystical arts are impossible to achieve, Cairo practiced practical magic before making her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Who is Donny Blaze in episode 4 of “She-Hulk”?

She-Hulk Episode 4 focused on two storylines. The former revolved around Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) trying to improve her love life, while the latter centered around Wong’s (Benedict Wong) legal troubles. Donny Blaze (a pun on Ghost Rider’s alter ego, Johnny Blaze) is a former mystic arts student who uses what he’s learned to succeed as a magician.

However, her mistreatment of wizard magic catches the attention of Wong, who hires She-Hulk as a lawyer and asks Donny to cease and desist. Donny keeps using mystical arts, which leads to an invasion of winged demons from another universe. Fortunately, She-Hulk and Wong fix the problem, so Donny will have to rely on magic tricks for now.

Rhys Cairo Performed Magic Tricks Before Making His ‘She-Hulk’ Debut

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cairo detailed his preparation to play Donny Blaze. The actor says he wanted everything he did practice to look real. Cairo worked with the Marvel Stunt Team to learn many of the tricks he performs in Episode 4 of She-Hulk.

“There were a lot of practical sleights of hand that took place. I really wanted there to be as many as possible,” says Cairo. “I think the juxtaposition of actual Kamar-Taj mystical arts with sleight of hand magic is brilliant. In the script it says, ‘He’s doing a magic show,’ you know? So we had some time with the incredible, world-class Marvel stunt team that has their own building, like their own little lab, where they create those moments, and we have to get in there with them and work on all those things, and kind of create magickal acts. We set up this floating sequence. And the study of magick was really fun for me. It’s so interesting to see how it’s a sub-discipline of performance. There’s magic, clowns and stunts, and it’s fun to explore these other areas of performance and how they all relate.

The tricks he pulls off aren’t overly complex, but the magic takes a lot of dedication to pull off a lot of sleight of hand tricks. In a world where real wizards exist, it’s nice to see that magicians are still perfecting their craft.

Cairo Watched Every MCU Movie To Prepare For ‘She-Hulk’

Rhy Cairo is married to Kat Cairo, director for She-Hulk. After being hired to direct the series, Rhys recalls that he and Kat both watched every MCU project in chronological order.

“Part of Kat’s preparation [to direct the show] was to watch all of Marvel in chronological order of history,” Cairo said. “It was very interesting to watch them that way. We all did this together, and it’s really amazing how cohesive it all is.

Episode 4 of She-Hulk: Lawyer is now streaming on Disney+.

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