She Hulk: Attorney at Law is one of the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe shows to hit Disney+. The season recently concluded with a total of nine episodes that journeyed through Jennifer Walter’s rising as the new superhero She-Hulk. I’m here to give you the top five reasons why this legal comedy was the show that the MCU needed.
- Tatiana Maslany
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Tatiana Maslany is Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, in the new show. After other recent MCU projects such as Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight, Maslany had to follow some outstanding performances, yet she truly delivered as Marvel’s newest superhero. She masterfully balances Jen’s sarcastic quips and intellect throughout the show, and when Jen switches into her superhero alter ego, this remains (but imagine it more… green). Maslany also gets to break the fourth wall repeatedly throughout the show, and Jen addresses the audience to share her own thoughts on numerous circumstances. The best instance of this occurs in the season finale, which we will get to later on.
Maslany makes her character enjoyable and relatable throughout the nine episodes, and audiences can fall in love with the brilliant (and slightly awkward) Jennifer Walters.
- Fan Favorite mcu Characters
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As Jennifer Walters said in one of the show’s episodes, we all are just happy to see that Wong is back! Benedict Wong portrays this character in a way that allows fans to adore him further each time that he graces our screens, and like Jen said, “It’s like giving the show twitter armor for a week.” The new reigning Sorcerer Supreme has numerous appearances in the show, and we learn of his friendship with Emil Blonsky, one of the Hulk’s rivals better known as Abomination. Tim Roth is back to act as Blonsky, a character that originally appeared in The Incredible Hulk (when Edward Norton was playing Bruce Banner).
Mark Ruffalo of course makes a special appearance in the show as Bruce Banner, and even hints to the idea that the character was originally played by Norton in the MCU. When discussing the Hulk’s relationship with Abomination, Bruce tells Jen something along the lines of, “I was a completely different guy back then!” She-Hulk provided an opportunity for Marvel to include numerous MCU favorites, but they also welcomed a fair amount of new faces as well.
- the Introduction of New mcu Characters
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Jameela Jamil joins the MCU as Titania, one of She-Hulk’s greatest rivals in the comics. Although her character made some notable appearances in the show’s original trailers, Jamil is not included in the show a whole lot. Hopefully we get a chance to see this eccentric character face off against She-Hulk more in the future.
Another new addition to the MCU is Jennifer Walter’s best friend and paralegal Nikki Ramos, played by Ginger Gonzaga. These two were giving me Peter Parker and Ned Leeds vibes from Spider-Man: best friends through it all (and that certainly was the case as Nikki helped Jen navigate her new life with a super alter-ego).
If there is one thing to take away from the new characters officially joining the MCU, it’s that Matt Murdock has blessed our screens once again. Charlie Cox is back as our favorite attorney, or should I say “avocado at law” (the ones who get it, get it). Murdock, sometimes better known as Daredevil, had his own show on Netflix that was canceled in 2018 after its third season had aired. Fans were taken aback at the news considering the large amounts of support that the show was generating, yet the licensing deal between Netflix and Marvel Studious had ended, so Daredevil (along with the other Marvel shows that Netflix was creating) was canceled. This gave Disney the opportunity to work with Marvel to produce shows that included these characters.
Daredevil made two episode appearances within She-Hulk, and he is already slated to have his own Disney+ show in the future titled Daredevil: Born Again. This is a huge move within the MCU as the other Marvel characters who had shows on Netflix, such as Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, could make a return to our screens.
- Relevant Issues
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In the beginning of the series, Jen deals with issues regarding the difficulty of being a woman in the male-dominated field of law. Her male co-workers mansplain cases and topics to Jen despite her holding a well deserved law degree, and one of the male attorneys within her practice attempts to take the helm of a case because he simply believed that he was better equipped to do so than Jen.
After developing her alter-ego of She-Hulk, Jen goes on to have some issues with finding importance and purpose for “Jennifer Walters” when everyone around her, from her point of view, showed preference for She-Hulk. Jen has to discover that she’s just as important as her super alter-ego, and that Attorney Jennifer Walters can do just as much good as She-Hulk.
Later in the series, Jen is a victim of hacking and has personal information including photos and videos of herself leaked to the public by an online organization standing against She-Hulk on the misogynistic basis that she is a female version of the Hulk. In trying to catch those responsible for this, Jen turns into her super alter-ego and is labeled as crazy and out of control. Jen is then forced to try and uncover who leaked her information and solve who is running the organization against She-Hulk by herself (with the help of Nikki, of course).
While the show is labeled as a legal comedy, it has relevant issues that some audience members may connect with. Instead of depicting an easy going life for the up-and-coming superhero, Marvel delves into the difficulties that many people face today. The MCU is known to not shy away from difficult topics within its shows, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law serves as another example of this.
- The Finale
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The finale included all that made this show so special into one episode: beloved characters, relevant issues, comedy, fourth wall breaks, and the continued growth of Jennifer Walters as a character. This episode features numerous guest stars from previous episodes and builds upon the difficult, yet purposeful events that Jennifer Walters has had to experience. My personal favorite aspect of this episode had to be the major breaking of the fourth wall that lasted nearly ten minutes!
The breakage of the fourth wall is a nod to She-Hulk’s appearances in the Marvel comics, where she repeatedly would speak to the readers or the comic’s own creative team. This was an important aspect to her character, and the show definitely pays homage to this throughout its episodes. In the finale, Jen manages to break out of her Disney+ episode, scroll through other Marvel show options, and place herself into Marvel Studios: Assembled (a show which details the stories behind creating MCU productions). This leads to her having a discussion with the writers behind She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Two of the writers in this sequence are actual writers for the show, Jessica Gao and Zeb Wells, and they sit next to the actors who are portraying fictional versions of themselves in the episode.
I know that this all may sound absolutely crazy and too much to fit into a thirty-five minute episode, but you’ll have to take my word for it. There even is a special appearance by Kevin (or should I say, K.E.V.I.N.).
From tackling difficult topics to officially introducing beloved characters to the MCU, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has managed to be a (She-Hulk) smash. See what I did there? Be sure to check out the entire series now streaming on Disney+.