She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) Show Review

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Starring Tatiana Maslany (Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk), Jameela Jamil (Titania), Ginger Gonzaga (Nikki Ramos), Josh Segarra (Augustus Pugliese), and Renee Elise Goldsberry (Mallory Book), with Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner / Smart Hulk), Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky / The Abomination), Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock / Daredevil), Benedict Wong (Wong), John Bass (Todd Phelps), Griffin Matthews (Luke Jacobson), Patty Guggenheim (Madisynn King), and Wil Dusner (Skaar). 

SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW

Showrunner: Jessica Gao

A Kevin Feige Production

Produced by Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro, and Jessica Gao

Music By Amie Doherty

Distributed by Disney Platform Distribution

Number of Episodes: 9

Initial Streaming: August 18, 2022 – October 13, 2022

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Fun She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Facts

Marvel Studios announced She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (originally titled simply She-Hulk) as a series that was being developed for the new Disney+ streaming service on August 23, 2019, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

On November 8, 2019, Jessica Gao was announced as the showrunner who would be overseeing the development of the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series.

On November 12, 2019, The Walt Disney Company launched the Disney+ streaming service in the United States. Marvel Studios produced a presentation titled Marvel Studios: Expanding the Universe for launch day, which featured footage from the previous Summer’s D23 Expo and San Diego Comic Con. Concept art for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was shown as part of the feature.

On March 10, 2020, reports emerged stating that Mark Ruffalo would be reprising his role as Bruce Banner in Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series.

On September 15, 2020, Marvel Studios announced the hiring of Kat Coiro as Director and Executive Producer of the upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series.

On September 17, 2020, reports emerged stating that Tatiana Maslany had been cast to portray Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

On December 10, 2020, an elaborate presentation featuring Marvel Studios CCO Kevin Feige aired on Disney+ as part of Disney’s “Investors Day.” She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was one of the many Marvel Studios projects discussed by Feige as he confirmed the casting of Tatiana Maslany and the inclusion of Mark Ruffalo, while also announcing that Tim Roth would be reprising his role as Emil Blonsky / The Abomination from The Incredible Hulk in the series. Feige furthermore labeled the She-Hulk series as “very funny” and teased that given the nature of the series and its plot, “You never know what Marvel characters are going to pop-up from episode to episode.”

On April 10, 2021, filming on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law commenced in Los Angeles, California. The series was one of many that experienced developmental delays due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. The series wrapped filming on August 15, 2021. Budget constraints reportedly factored into the amount of screen time that the Jennifer Walters character would appear in her She-Hulk form.

On November 12, 2021, as part of Disney+ Day, Marvel Studios unveiled a teaser for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law featuring Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo.

The first trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiered on May 17, 2022, introduced by Marvel CCO Kevin Feige and star Tatiana Maslany as part of the Disney Upfront presentation. The trailer was released online this same date and was heavily criticized for its CGI (primarily the look of She-Hulk) by many fans. The trailer was viewed 78-million times during its first 24-hours of release; the second-best viewership for a Marvel Studios Disney+ series behind only The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (which premiered during the NFL’s Super Bowl LV).

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was heavily promoted at the 2022 San Diego Comic Con, which marked Marvel Studios’ return to the convention following a three-year absence. Jessica Gao and Tatiana Maslany were among those who took part in the panel, and a second trailer for the series debuted.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was initially set to debut on Disney+ on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, but the show was moved to Thursday, August 18, 2022, during the Summer of 2022.

Prior to its release, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was “review-bombed” in several places online with vocal critics specifically bashing the show (which was written by, directed by, and predominantly stars women) as serving the “woke agenda” and championing feminism before having actually watched it. Nonetheless, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law debuted to big numbers on Disney+, shattering expectations by doubling the viewership numbers of Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel, which was released earlier in the Summer on June 8. The first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law performed exceptionally well in Black and Hispanic American households and was a predominant hit with Gen-Z Millennials and female viewers of varying ages.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, viewers were finally given an explanation as to why Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner appeared in human form during the credits of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings after merging his two personalities into one physical form (labeled “Smart Hulk”) in Avengers: Endgame. As it turned out, Banner created a device that could be worn on his wrist that enabled him to exist in his human form, which could actually be seen in Shang-Chi at the time of that film’s release. The device also served to assist Banner with healing his damaged right arm; an injury that occurred when Smart Hulk wielded the Infinity Stones in Endgame.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the traditional comic book origin story of She-Hulk was dramatically altered. In the comics, Bruce Banner desperately gave his cousin a blood transfusion in order to save her life after she was shot by a crime boss. Banner’s blood transformed her into a Hulk. In the show, Walters becomes a Hulk after Banner’s blood inadvertently spills into her open wound after she crashes the car that they were both riding in. Walters’ blood furthermore mixes with Banner’s during the incident, and this allows him to completely heal his arm from the injuries he received while wielding the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters routinely breaks the “Fourth Wall”, speaking directly to viewers of the show. Many modern readers of Marvel comic books associate this ability with Marvel’s Deadpool character, as he has become synonymous with this technique, but She-Hulk actually did it first; years before Deadpool even existed as a comic book character, so this is not a knock on, or a rip-off of Wade Wilson.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters is shown to be completely obsessed with the sex life (or lack thereof as it were) of former Avenger Steve Rogers (Captain America). In the first episode’s credits scene, Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk reveals to what he believes to be an extremely drunken Walters that Rogers lost his virginity to a USO girl shortly after receiving the Super Soldier serum that transformed him into Captain America, a revelation that Walters openly celebrates.

Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jennifer Walters is shown surfing the internet and visiting a site with a couple of very interesting headlines. One refers to a “giant statue of a man sticking out of the ocean.” This is a subtle reference to events seen in 2021’s Eternals and the failed Celestial Emergence, making She-Hulk: Attorney at Law the first MCU project to directly reference the events of that film. The other headline reads Man Fights with Metal Claws in Bar Brawl. This could mean any number of things, but most fans believe this is a reference to the popular Marvel character known as Wolverine! Despite being a mutant member of The X-Men, Wolverine actually made his first comic book appearance in 1974’s The Incredible Hulk # 180, which would make his first official MCU reference taking place in a show about a Hulk a neat little marketing decision by Marvel Studios, if this reference was in fact pertaining to him. The Marvel Studios team began gradually incorporating mutant characters into the MCU in 2022, with Kamala Khan revealed to be a mutant in Ms. Marvel, and an appearance by Charles Xavier within an Alternate Universe (Earth-838) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

In one of the “Breaking the Fourth Wall” moments in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters contacts Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk to get his approval after deciding to defend Hulk’s former rival Emil Blonsky / The Abomination (portrayed by Tim Roth). This is a direct callback to the events of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which saw William Hurt’s General Ross persuade Blonsky to receive a dose of experimental Super Soldier serum so that he could serve as a viable threat to The Hulk. The serum enhanced Blonsky significantly, but negatively affected his mind and he eventually forced Banner’s friend Samuel Sterns into injecting him with Banner’s blood, which transformed Blonsky into a monstrosity known as The Abomination. Blonsky was portrayed by Roth in The Incredible Hulk, but Banner was notoriously portrayed by actor Edward Norton. Mark Ruffalo was cast to portray Banner during the time between The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers following a falling out between Norton and Marvel Studios. In the She-Hulk series, Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk explains to Maslany’s Walters that he has forgiven Blonsky and approves of her defense of him, going so far as to profess that he was “literally a totally different person” back when he was feuding with Blonsky / The Abomination. This was an obvious reference to the Norton / Banner casting change, complete with Maslany’s Walters looking directly at us, the audience to sell the sequence.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk is shown venturing back to the Planet Sakaar. Ruffalo’s Hulk was shown to be a Champion of Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok after being enslaved as a Gladiator in Grandmaster’s Contest of Champions tournaments. Ruffalo’s character spent two full human years as The Hulk upon Sakaar and comic book storylines such as Planet Hulk and World War Hulk have led to immense speculation pertaining to what the future holds for Bruce Banner / The Hulk in the MCU. In the Planet Hulk storyline, Banner was outcast to Sakaar by The Illuminati and enslaved as a Gladiator there, ultimately leading a revolution against the vile Red King and falling in love with a woman named Caiera, with whom he fathers a child (Skaar). The detonation of a bomb that Hulk believes to have been implanted on his ship by The Illuminati results in the death of Caiera (and most everyone else on the planet where Hulk at long last attained happiness), prompting Hulk to invade Earth with his Warbound and declare war on Earth’s heroes. This is the World War Hulk storyline. The Hulk dominates his former friends and colleagues but meets his match in The Sentry. This fight reverts The Hulk back to Banner, and The Hulk ultimately discovers that the bomb that killed his beloved Caiera was enabled by his friend and teammate Miek, after which Banner is detained. In the fallout of the storyline, Banner discovers that Hulk’s son Skaar survived upon Sakaar and Skaar eventually ventures to Earth. In the She-Hulk finale, Smart Hulk returns from Sakaar with his son Skaar, who he introduces to his family.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock Cox / Daredevil is teased in the fifth episode before making a full appearance in episode eight. Cox’s Matt Murdock debuted for Marvel Studios in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home after previously portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Marvel Television’s Daredevil and The Defenders series’ that debuted on Netflix and aired from 2015-2018. Much speculation surrounded the Daredevil character upon its MCU debut, with fans openly wondering whether or not the character would be the same version of the character seen in the Netflix series. These questions only intensified when the entire Defenders Sage was moved from Netflix to Disney+ on March 16, 2022. Then, at the 2022 San Diego Comic Con, Marvel CCO Kevin Feige announced a new Disney+ series produced by Marvel Studios titled Daredevil: Born Again, which would star Cox as Daredevil. Cox’s She-Hulk appearance came complete with the familiar musical notes from the Netflix Daredevil theme, though in She-Hulk, Matt wore a yellow suit as opposed to the red suit that he wore in the now former Netflix shows. From there, the 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline seemed to confirm that The Defenders Saga was not MCU canon, as there was no mention of Matt Murdock’s history as seen in the now former Netflix shows upon the Sacred Timeline. However, on January 3, 2023, Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation: Brad Winderbaum confirmed during an interview with Screen Rant that the Matt Murdock that appeared for Marvel Television from 2015-2018 and the Matt Murdock currently appearing for Marvel Studios were in fact the same person and that the events that took place during his appearances for Marvel Television did in fact happen upon the Sacred Timeline. This was further confirmed some 24-hours later when the final trailer for Marvel Studios’ Echo series featuring Cox as Daredevil, prominently featured video and audio from The Defenders Saga.

The Marvel Studios: The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline book also confirmed when She-Hulk takes place on the MCU (Sacred) Timeline. Jennifer Walters became She-Hulk in the Summer of 2024, shortly after Peter Parker’s secret identity was outed by J. Jonah Jameson and Parker’s Aunt May turned to Matt Murdock for help. Smart Hulk then trained Jen in the Fall of 2024, shortly before The Deviants reemerged in London. The modern-day events of Eternals then play themselves out while Multiversal Visitors crossover into the 616-Universe following a botched spell cast by Doctor Stephen Strange for Peter Parker to make everyone forget that he was Spider-Man (seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home). After that situation is remedied, Strange finds himself at war with The Scarlet Witch; a war that traverses the Multiverse. The events of Hawkeye (a series that featured an appearance by Daredevil’s archnemesis: Wilson Fisk / The Kingpin, portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio, who also portrayed the same character opposite Cox in the now former Netflix series’) transpire at Christmastime in 2024, with Jennifer Walters returning to New York to practice law in the Spring of 2025. From there, much of Moon Knight and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever occur concurrently with She-Hulk, which ends in the Fall of 2025, just prior to Ms. Marvel. 

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

My She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Review

The following episode-by-episode reviews were written in real-time immediately after I watched each single episode, with my thoughts on that episode.

A Normal Amount of Rage – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Jessica Gao

First Aired on August 18, 2022, on Disney+.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law launched with a ton of controversy. Words like “woke” and “feminism” dominated the headlines and the first episode of the series seemed to definitively divide fans into two distinct camps: those who hated it for what they deemed to be its obvious agendas, and those who loved it because they celebrated those alleged agendas. Personally, I don’t think that’s completely fair, because it leaves me as a viewer in an uncomfortable place of feeling like if I bash She-Hulk in any way, I’m going to be painted as a disgruntled white male that hates women and opposes change … and that simply is not true. On the other hand, if I praise the show, I’m going to be labeled a “whiny liberal” or a “spineless pushover” or whatever other derogatory term someone can come up with, and I don’t think that’s true either.

Truth is, there were things that I liked about the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and there were things that I didn’t like. I came out of A Normal Amount of Rage feeling just as divided as the fan-base, albeit for some very different reasons. I could not care less that She-Hulk is a woman, or a proud woman, or a strong woman, or an empowered woman. Some of my most favorite MCU characters are female: Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Carol Danvers, Hela, Nebula, Gamora, Thena, Sprite, Sylvie, Shuri, Nakia, Kate Bishop, Agatha Harkness, etc. I loved Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor, and I feel like I can’t find enough words to properly praise Ms. Marvel as a series and Kamala Khan as a superhero character! I’m all for girl power and inclusion and all those sorts of things. I have a daughter and I love that she has heroes that she can look up to and be inspired by and relate to! So, case closed on that.

Also, I do not allow myself to get all worked up over the kinds of themes and philosophies that have divided so many people over this show. I’m just not a very political person and I’m not a chauvinistic person and I don’t get triggered by things that trigger a lot of other people. As I’ve written before in other reviews, when it comes to these Marvel shows and films, I simply look for good, well-told stories and good, well-acted characters that entertain me and inspire me, and good, well-made movies and shows. I want things to look good in terms of costumes and special effects and I want things to make sense in terms of plot and narrative. That’s what my expectations amount to in a nutshell.

So, when I criticize the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and when I praise the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, it is based on those types of things on both sides. I’ll leave all that other stuff to everyone else.

I’m going to start with the praise. I loved pretty much everything with The Hulk in this first episode! I am a big Hulk fan from the comics and whenever he is on the screen doing his thing, I’m usually engaged. My love and appreciation for The Hulk resulted in me enjoying 2008’s The Incredible Hulk film far more than most people did, and right out the gate here, I loved how often She-Hulk: Attorney at Law called back to that film. There were so many little things that reminded me of the things that happened in that movie! The way Bruce’s blood spilled into Jennifer’s open wound reminded me of Banner’s blood spilling into an open wound on the head of Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns. She-Hulk’s Hulk-Clap and the way it emitted a sort of sonic boom that rattled Smart Hulk reminded me of the Stark cannons that William Hurt’s General Ross used against The Hulk. Smart Hulk championing spandex to Jen was a callback to the film, as it was in that movie that Edward Norton’s Banner was seen adopting spandex. I just thought it was cool to see a movie that has been so largely ignored and that I still appreciate, get referenced as part of Bruce’s past and identity. And on top of all of that, we know we are getting Emil Blonsky in this show as well!

I also liked the answers that we got pertaining to The Hulk and the way this first episode seemed to setup Hulk’s MCU future! That Sakaaran Messenger Ship that the car crash revolved around? This could set-up a return to Space for The Hulk, and that could set up some sort of a more faithful adaptation to the Planet Hulk comic book storyline than we got in Thor: Ragnarok (which was plenty great for me, but if we can get more, why not!?!). Then, we had Hulk’s arm getting healed by Jen’s blood. This has gotten some people riled up over the MCU and lingering consequences and whatnot, but for me, if we are going to keep getting films with The Hulk in them, let’s get him back to being the badass Hulk that we got in The Avengers! In fact, I’d be all for Marvel Studios going all-in with a version of World-breaker Hulk! Let’s get back to the monster! Let’s get back to the destroyer! Let’s get back to Hulk smashing! If his arm getting fixed helps us get there, then I’m all for it!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

I furthermore thought Mark Ruffalo had tremendous chemistry with Tatiana Maslany. They had a real brother-and-sister type of relationship that made them believable as family members. I enjoyed the way that they joked around with each other and even when they were at odds, the strong chemistry between the two made it work.

As for Tatiana Maslany herself, I thought she delivered a good performance in her introductory episode. She was strong-willed, defiant, and a little snarky, and those kinds of things can make a character unlikable, but she did a really good job walking the line and coming across as confidant as opposed to arrogant. I also thought that she was funny and with this show being a comedy, that’s an important thing, and she pulled it off well! I will say that I thought Tatiana shined a little brighter as She-Hulk than she did as Jennifer, and that does give me some concern moving forward, as I expect based on what I’ve heard about this show that we are going to get much more Jen than we are She-Hulk. This is not intended to be a huge knock on her though. To be fair, I generally feel the same way about Bruce Banner and The Hulk. I’d rather have The Hulk.

Now, on to the things that I didn’t like. I’m going to start with the CGI. It’s not great. It didn’t look good in the first trailer, then it looked a little better in the second trailer. Here, it looked okay sometimes and at others, it looked awful.

When She-Hulk is kind of just standing there, I think she looks great! I like the general design of the character. It’s her movements that look off. The Hulk-clap scene in particular looked far too awkward and cartoony, but really, any time that She-Hulk was actively moving, it just didn’t look realistic. I try really hard to take things like this as they are as a viewer, but I was taken out of it a couple of times despite my best efforts not to be. While I believe this will be improved upon significantly when she crosses over into the movies, it may make for a tough watch as the series goes forward.

From there, I was not a fan of the courtroom fight between Jen and Titania. I think we saw far too little of Titania to properly judge Jameela Jamil, but the first impression wasn’t great. She didn’t come across as a formidable foe for the bailiffs, much less She-Hulk. I get that Jen needed to come across as strong here, but Titania just seemed goofy in this scene; that kick in particular just looked godawful. This was just bad choreography and not filmed very well.

I also wasn’t a fan of the toilet humor. Did I need the fart jokes and the Hulk burps and belches? No, I did not. It’s just not my thing and it just wasn’t funny to me. Maybe some of the kids that were watching thought it was funny, but this doesn’t seem like a show that is being marketed to children, Disney+ or not. We got middle-fingers, language, and lots of sex talk, and I’m not trying to be some holier-than-thou stick in the mud here. Deadpool is one of my favorite characters! With Deadpool, I feel like everyone knows what they are getting though, as opposed to this, which just felt all over the place in terms of tone and execution. That being said, this was a pilot, and things may balance out as we move forward, but I wasn’t crazy about the way things started.

Last and least … I HATED the “big” Steve Rogers reveal. It was in my opinion dumb and pointless. I can see where a lot of people thought it was funny and whatever, but from a narrative standpoint, it did nothing for Steve’s character and story, and frankly, I felt like it crapped all over it. Steve having never danced with a woman was not only part of his charm, but a huge part of his and Peggy’s story. Steve claimed he’d been holding out for the “right partner”, and he found that in Peggy; the girl of his dreams and the love of his life; a woman that in the end, he was still so hung up on, he traveled across time just to be with her! It was just … sweet and pure and romantic. Now, I get that maybe Steve hooked-up with someone else after thawing out from the ice in 2011 after realizing that Peggy had lived a full life in his absence. Heck, he lived another seven years on the 616-Universe timeline after Peggy’s death in 2016, and many have suggested that he and Natasha may have had a fling during that time, and I’m not opposed to any of that, but in 1943? I just don’t buy it because Steve was still very much hung-up on Peggy during that time. Go back and watch Captain America: The First Avenger and pay attention to how nervous Steve is when Natalie Dormer’s character kisses him at SSR Headquarters. It just doesn’t add up! All signs point to the fact that Steve was saving himself for Peggy! Steve Rogers is my favorite superhero and I know that the innocence and nobility and patriotism of that character isn’t exactly “cool” or “hip”, and maybe a lot of people don’t even find it interesting or relatable, but it’s always been inspiring to me and I just feel like this was a case of people who never wrote or understood that character trying to turn him into something that he isn’t, and they did so all for the sake of a joke. I wasn’t a fan.

Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company

Superhuman Law – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Jessica Gao

First Aired on August 25, 2022, on Disney+.

The second episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law shows Jennifer Walters get fired from her job due to her transformation into a Hulk in court, which we saw at the end of the episode the previous week. Jen’s altercation with Titania caused the case to be thrown out, and her superiors saw this as a liability, so she was let go. Jennifer gets labeled She-Hulk within the media and finds the task of finding a new job to be an uphill battle. No one seems to want to employ a Hulk … until GLK&H (the firm she was prosecuting in last week’s case) comes calling and offers Jen an opportunity to transition from prosecutor to defender … with a catch. GLK&H do not want Jennifer Walters to work for them … they specifically want She-Hulk, and they want She-Hulk to represent super-powered clients. Jennifer readily accepts.

She-Hulk’s first client = none other than Emil Blonsky / The Abomination!

Jen meets with Blonsky, whom she knows of from Bruce’s past, and he tells her his side of his story. How he thought he was going to be a hero … like Captain America when he volunteered to be injected with a version of Super Soldier serum in order to give him a fighting chance to take down The Hulk. It was The Hulk who became a hero though, while Blonsky was imprisoned for 15-years. It is insinuated that the serum Blonsky received had a negative mental effect on the decorated soldier, as anyone who has seen The Incredible Hulk clearly knows. After speaking with Blonsky, Jennifer believes he has a great case, and after Bruce approves, she gets ready to defend Blonsky, but things get complicated when footage of Blonsky covertly leaving his cell and taking part in an underground fighting rink (as seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) emerges.

In the meantime, we meet Jennifer’s family.

Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company

This was a quite enjoyable episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for me! I really enjoyed the stuff with Blonsky, and it’s great to see Tim Roth back in the MCU! I loved the callback to Shang-Chi and I’m curious to learn more about the friendship between Wong and The Abomination as well as how all of this plays out in terms of the legal case. I thought most of the jokes in this episode landed and Tatiana Maslany really shined during the family scenes.

As for Jen’s family, they were just okay for me. Her dad (Mark Linn-Baker) was my favorite character of the lot, but again, I really liked Jen’s interactions with them all. Speaking of her family, I have to discuss the big reveal with her cousin. Remember that Sakaaran spaceship that we saw cause the car crash last week? Well, Smart Hulk is shown to be on it, in Space, heading back to Sakaar! This is a potentially huge development and could mean several exciting things for the character, be it loose or faithful adaptations of Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, or something else altogether! As a Hulk fan, I’m just really excited to see Bruce Banner’s story moving forward and I hope this means big things for the MCU’s original Hulk in the near future!

There were a couple of other really cool Easter-eggs in this episode (a reference to the failed Emergence in Eternals, MAYBE a reference to Wolverine, and what seemed to be an allusion to The Thunderbolts) and those were great little touches! I also thought the “I was literally a different person then” line from Smart Hulk, referring to the events of The Incredible Hulk was very funny, even if it does complicate canon.

Really, my only major complaint about this episode was its length. It just felt too short, clocking in at a mere 20-minutes or so minus the credits. I will concede that part of that feeling was due to this episode being remarkably well-paced and highly entertaining, but at the same time, I would have been fine with an extra 10-minutes or so. I get that this is intended to be fashioned after a television sitcom, but so far, it hasn’t really been structured that way. Maybe that will change as we move forward and spend more time in the courtroom, but overall, this episode was a win and I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

The People vs Emil Blonsky – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Francesca Gailes and Jacqueline J. Gailes

First Aired on September 1, 2022, on Disney+.

The third episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law carried forward the Emil Blonsky story that was introduced the previous week. This episode featured an appearance from Benedict Wong’s Wong, the MCU’s Sorcerer Supreme. Wong was brought in by Jennifer Walters as part of Blonsky’s defense, professing that Blonsky willingly returned to prison after Wong broke him out against Blonsky’s will so that Wong could have a worthy opponent to compete against as he continued to try and better his skills in an effort to be the best Sorcerer Supreme that he could be. Wong’s testimony combined with Blonsky showcasing his ability to control his transformations into The Abomination swayed the Parole Board to approve of Blonsky’s release under the condition that Blonsky vow to forego any future Abomination transformations. Wong, however, found himself suddenly on the wrong side of the law due to his actions, prompting him to flee through a portal.

In the meantime, a former colleague reaches out to the Superhuman Law Division over his ex-girlfriend Runa, who turned out to be a shape-shifting Asgardian Light Elf. The man thought that he was dating American rap artist Megan Thee Stallion. The case gets assigned to “Pug.”

The end of the episode sees Jennifer Walters get assaulted by a group of thugs wielding Asgardian construction equipment. Jennifer easily disposes of this Wrecking Crew, who had been hired to obtain a blood sample from Jen. They were not successful in their mission.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

For me, this episode was a miss, and I’m starting to fear that the reality of this show is that it’s going to be a mixed bag henceforth. Marvel Studios does SO good with their casting and their world building traditionally, but this show seems to be carelessly juggling its place on the MCU Timeline, and I am not a fan of that. Phase 4 has fumbled its way through MCU continuity up to this point, but She-Hulk is taking it to a new level. All signs have pointed to this series taking place after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals but before Spider-Man: No Way Home / Far From Home, but Wong referencing a memory erasing spell in this episode seems to be a callback to the Spider-Man films, and that doesn’t make sense! I’ll eventually figure out a way to make it all work in my head canon, because that’s what I do, but I shouldn’t have to, and even if I can clear up the timeline aspect, it also doesn’t make sense that Wong would even remember that spell being cast! Wong wasn’t with Strange when either spell was cast, and no one is supposed to remember who Peter Parker is, and in that film, Wong seemed repulsed by the mere notion of any such spell when Strange proposed it. So, Wong saying that he will never cast another memory-erasing spell was very careless writing. The people making these films and running these shows should be the ones paying careful attention to canon and timelines and other narratives when they are writing and filming these projects. Contradictions like these destroy the Shared Universe and hinder the overall narrative of the MCU. As a MCU enthusiast and diehard fan, these sorts of things are very frustrating. I fully understand how detrimental the Pandemic was to both writing and filming, but it isn’t an excuse for incohesive storytelling. Note: Some of these things were eventually cleared up in the aforementioned 2023 MCU: An Official Timeline book, but as I previously mentioned, these were my feelings at the time these episodes aired in the Summer / Fall of 2022.

On top of that, I wasn’t a fan of The Wrecking Crew and how they were executed. These bumbling sorts of throwaway characters just don’t interest me, and that’s the sort of character Runa the Light Elf was as well. She just sort of came out of nowhere and was shoehorned into the episode as an excuse to feature Megan Thee Stallion, which I understand and acknowledge may have been a cool thing for fans of hers, but for me, it didn’t really add anything to the episode. The whole Wong / Blonsky relationship came across as a mess this week as well, and didn’t do any favors for Wong, who up to this point in the MCU has been portrayed as a very noble and selfless character, only for him to come across as sort of a weasel here. Furthermore, the Blonsky trial would have and should have been enough to carry what was another very short episode without all of the far less interesting Asgardian Light Elf stuff.

Ironically, I guess that overall, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law just isn’t going to be my specific brand of humor or comedy. Strangely, I defended MCU projects such as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two and Thor: Love and Thunder (which were widely bashed by others) because those projects were (mostly) fueled by my brand of humor. I labeled projects like these as being “made for me”, and so far, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law simply isn’t made for me, but you know, that’s fine! I’m happy that the people who love this show have it, but while humor is subjective, continuity is not, and sloppy writing and making a joke out of everything without any real emotional balance or high stakes to speak of just doesn’t work for me in the context of this Universe.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Is This Not Real Magic? – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Melissa Hunter

First Aired on September 8, 2022, on Disney+.

The fourth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduces us to Donny Blaze. No, that isn’t a typing error. I meant to write “Donny Blaze” (not “Johnny Blaze”). Donny is a rogue magician that was banished from Kamar-Taj for the unethical use of his powers, and he is now relegated to performing stage shows in efforts to wow his respective audiences. He does all sorts of traditional magic stuff, from changing colors in an instant to making things suddenly appear. The problem for Donny, is he lives in a world that knows all about what people like Doctor Strange can do, and consequently, people just aren’t impressed by street magic anymore. This fact prompts Donny to use a Sling Ring in an effort to win his audiences over, and we see that early in this episode when Donny invites a member of the audience on-stage and opens a portal, sending the woman (Madisynn) to an Alternate Dimension to great applause. Madisynn ends up being sent to a Hell Dimension of some sort where she makes a deal with a demon (Mephisto confirmed?), who then transports her to Kamar-Taj, where the drunken and somewhat traumatized woman encounters Wong, who is furious when he discovers that Donny Blaze is the reason that all of this has transpired. Wong therefore hires She-Hulk to prosecute Blaze in an effort to prevent Blaze and others from carelessly endangering others through unauthorized dabbling in the Mystic Arts.

In the meantime, Jennifer struggles with her dating life (or lack thereof), prompting her to try her hand at putting herself out there as She-Hulk as opposed to Jennifer. This dramatically reverses her fortunes!

From there, things go horribly wrong for Donny Blaze at one of his shows when he inadvertently releases a swarm of demons from an Alternate Dimension (presumably another Hell Dimension, if not the same one that he sent Madisynn to). Wong enlists She-Hulk’s help in remedying the situation, and the threat is smashed out.

The episode ends with Jen learning that she is being sued by a freed Titania over the name “She-Hulk”, and we then get a fun credits scene with Wong and Madisynn.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

This was a fun little bounce-back episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law! I was not a big fan of last week’s show, but I quite enjoyed the show this week! I laughed several times, and I thought the plot of addressing rogue magicians was logical as it pertains to this world, and it was executed in an entertaining way (much better than the Light Elf stuff last week). Rhys Coiro portrayed Donny Blaze in a very over-the-top sort of way that I thought worked really well, and I thought Patty Guggenheim was hilarious as Madisynn! Her chemistry with Benedict Wong’s Wong was quite dynamic and I enjoyed every scene they were together in!

I bashed the utilization of Wong last week for a variety of reasons, but he was executed pretty perfectly this time around! This episode leaned more into the character’s awkwardness in terms of how well he does and doesn’t relate to the world outside of Kamar-Taj (remember when he didn’t know who Beyonce was in Doctor Strange?) and he was very entertaining throughout this episode. I will call out the fact that his whole violating the law and fleeing last week was swept under the rug without explanation, but whatever, he was here, and he was great, and he was written far better in Episode 4 than he was in Episode 3, so kudos to Melissa Hunter for that.

I also have to specifically praise Tatiana Maslany for her performance in this episode. She was wonderful from start-to-finish, and it was really fun watching her smashing those flying little demon things! No, the CGI wasn’t perfect, but this sequence was fun nonetheless, and was actually my favorite action scene in this series so far!

I thought that focusing on the one single court case was a plus, and I thought all of the humor landed and everyone performed their parts well. This episode even had some emotional weight, which I felt this series had been lacking up to this point! Jen’s inner struggle with the fact that people find her far less desirable than they find She-Hulk is a very heavy thing, and while Tatiana Maslany has clearly been having a lot of fun with this character, seeing those hints of sadness and disappointment when her date decides against staying for breakfast after he sees her as Jen really landed and added some depth to her character.

I don’t really have anything bad to say about this episode of She-Hulk. Maybe I was a little too harsh last week. Third episodes of these Marvel shows have traditionally been the weakest, after all. Hopefully, things will only get better from here, but yeah, Is This Not Real Magic? was a win!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans – Directed by Anu Valia. Written by Dana Schwartz

First Aired on September 15, 2022, on Disney+.

The roller coaster ride that has been She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for me continued this week, as the fifth episode was dip back down after a big upward track in episode four. This episode was just there for me. There wasn’t much in the way of action. There wasn’t much in the way of drama. And it wasn’t very funny. It just … was.

Following up on the previous week’s episode, Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans, saw Titania and Jennifer Walters engage in a court battle over the name “She-Hulk.” Jen is defended by Mallory Book. Meanwhile, Pug and Nikki take it upon themselves to have a superhero outfit made for Jen, and they seek out superhero costume designer Luke Jacobson to create it.

She-Hulk emerges victorious from the courtroom battle with Titania by turning to some of the men that we saw her date last week to prove that she had begun identifying as She-Hulk before Titania filed for the trademark. The case leads to a friendship between Jen and Mallory, and we get a tease of what’s to come when the iconic mask of Daredevil is seen at Jacobson’s shop. All the while, we have Pug relentlessly obsessing over his “Iron Man Three’s” shoe collection and this leads into an illustrated sequence during the credits that has a lot of people talking.

The fact that the biggest talking points coming out of this episode are Daredevil’s mask and Pug’s shoe collection is a reflection of just how below average this episode was. The Daredevil reveal would have been a much bigger deal if Marvel Studios hadn’t have already shown Charlie Cox’s Daredevil in the trailers for this series, and the illustrated nods to characters like Deadpool and The Thing in Pug’s collection would have mattered more if we’d have actually seen them in live action. Even then, these were still just … colors on shoes.

The acting was fine in this episode from just about all involved, but this was from start-to-finish a filler episode that felt largely unnecessary. So, Jen is officially She-Hulk now? I don’t think we needed a full episode devoted to that considering we’ve already seen her warm-up to the name over the course of this series. I will say however, that the introduction of Luke Jacobson is a nice addition to the MCU, and it makes sense that superheroes would enlist the services of a superhero tailor.

I really don’t have much more to say about this episode beyond that. I didn’t really enjoy this one, and as much as I’d love for it not to be the case, this series remains an overall mixed bag of both highs and lows.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Just Jen – Directed by Anu Valia. Written by Kara Brown

First Aired on September 22, 2022, on Disney+.

This was another downer of an episode for me, marking the first instance of back-to-back episodes that didn’t hit the mark for me in this series. Frankly, I found myself bored with this sixth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. This was probably the least I’ve laughed in any single episode of this show so far, and where some of the better episodes have felt too short, this one felt too long, and it did so clocking in at just over 20-minutes (excluding the “previously on” and the credits stuff).

Just Jen revolved around Jennifer Walters attending an old classmate’s wedding as a bridesmaid and the drama surrounding it, which ranged from the bride not wanting Jen to be in her She-Hulk persona, to Jen getting bullied and then getting drunk, and to Titania showing up and provoking Jen into an altercation. I did feel for Jen, as her struggle with her dual identity and how other people react to one or the other has been the only real emotional weight that this show has boasted. We’ve seen Jen go from being jealous of She-Hulk and the attention that she commands, now to embracing her as a mask to hide her own insecurities, and that’s been a big part of her character development as she comes into her own as a MCU superhero, and her emotional struggle with all of that has been the highlight of the past two episodes, but beyond that, it’s really felt like we’re just … waiting for something of consequence to happen.

While Jen was off at her wedding, her colleagues Mallory and Nikki worked on a case together involving Mister Immortal. If you love Mr. Immortal and The Great Lake Avengers, I’m happy that you got to see one of your favorite characters come to life in the MCU this week, but this is a character that has just never done anything for me. I think The Great Lake Avengers are goofy in all the wrong ways; they’re just not my thing, and Mr. Immortal, a character that can get killed, but can’t die is … well, lame. That’s the way he was presented here too. Lame! Portrayed by David Pasquesi, Mr. Immortal was a shady, weaselly, womanizer who has repeatedly faked his own death to get out of multiple marriages. He’s selfish, dishonest, and completely unlikable, and I didn’t feel like he added anything at all to this episode, and I don’t feel like the character adds anything to the MCU.

Moving on, Nikki and Mallory resolved the case with Mr. Immortal and Jen turned into She-Hulk and beat up Titania again in another not-so-great fight. Beyond that, the big thing to come out of this episode was the emergence of the Intelligencia as a threat to She-Hulk. In the comics, the group is comprised of some of the smartest criminals in the Marvel Universe ranging from The Leader, to M.O.D.O.K., to The Wizard, to the Red Ghost, to the Mad Thinker, to Mister Sinister, and they are probably best known for their efforts to transform others into Hulk’s. The Intelligencia were presented here as an online group of She-Hulk haters, but I expect the threat level will increase once the identities of some of these She-Hulk haters are revealed. I think it’s a safe bet to assume that The Leader is going to be revealed as the person that has been out for Jen’s blood, and he is probably behind the Intelligencia as well.

Or, maybe it will be someone far more underwhelming. With this show, you just never know.

Maybe things will pick back up next week.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

The Retreat – Directed by Anu Valia. Written by Zeb Wells

First Aired on September 29, 2022, on Disney+.

I have described She-Hulk: Attorney at Law as being akin to a roller coaster ride in reviews of previous episodes, but this week, I’m going to compare this series to a merry-go-around. Round and round we go, maybe moving slow, maybe moving fast, but never really going anywhere.

That’s how I felt this week watching the Jennifer Walters character juggle her perception of her natural self and her identity as She-Hulk AGAIN!

This has been the theme of the past four episodes. Jen doesn’t like being She-Hulk and wants people to like her for her. Jen fully embraces She-Hulk and loves the attention she gets when she is in She-Hulk form. Jen is then told that she can’t have the She-Hulk name, but now, she wants the She-Hulk name because it’s part of her. Then, Jen is upset because she goes to a wedding where no one wants her to be She-Hulk. Now, she’s back to trying to accept herself as Just Jen … it just feels redundant and sadly, I am bored with this show!

This isn’t easy for me guys! I am pretty much a Marvel Studios apologist who finds something to like in everything that they do, and honestly, there are things that I have enjoyed in this series, but this week was a drag to get through! I wasn’t intrigued by anything that was happening, and all of the goofy characters that we were introduced just did nothing for me. El Aguila (Joseph Castillo-Midyett) was okay. He had a certain charm to him and good delivery in his lines. Saracen (Terrence Clowe) was okay too with his dry humor about his going on about being a supposed vampire and such. But Man-Bull (Nathan Hurd)? The Porcupine (Jordan Aaron Ford)? C’mon, man! All of these C-list characters were goofy and lame and were included here for the sake of their absurdity. They looked awful from a costume standpoint and had very little character depth to speak of. Oh, and The Wrecker (Nick Gomez) was back too. I didn’t like the execution of The Wrecking Crew previously, and I didn’t care for The Wrecker here either.

If you’re wondering, all of these goofy characters were a factor in this show because Jen went out to Emil Blonsky’s meditation retreat after his parole officer informed her that Blonsky’s inhibitor had been turned off. The parole officer was fearful that he would encounter The Abomination and needed Jen (as She-Hulk) for his protection. Jen by the way, found herself completely obsessed over her new love interest Josh (who she met the previous week at the wedding), due to his failure to return her messages after she slept with him, and she was in a panic at the retreat because there was no cell service.

So, Jen undergoes therapy, which is led by Blonsky and they council her into accepting her dual identity and deleting Josh’s number. Oh, and in case you weren’t able to predict that the wholesome and selfless Josh was evil … well, he was. He is in fact working for the Intelligencia in some fashion, and his whole “good guy” schtick was a ruse. Yawn.

We didn’t go to court this week at all, and we didn’t get Daredevil (again) after being teased two episodes ago. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law seems to just be spinning its wheels. There was no drama, no good action to speak of, and no stakes. Again. On top of all of that, it just wasn’t funny. To me. Again.

After so many six-episode lengths of Marvel Studios shows, I think this series would have benefited greatly from a six-episode format. I’m glad Jen has found mental and spiritual balance or whatever, and I am excited to see Daredevil and curious to find out who is behind the Intelligencia, so hopefully, with only two episodes left, things will pick up next week.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Ribbit and Rip It – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Cody Ziglar

First Aired on October 6, 2022, on Disney+.

Wow! After three consecutive weeks of disappointing episodes, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law bounced back in a major way this week with what was easily the best episode since Is This Not Real Magic? and what was for me, the most enjoyable episode of the entire series up to this point!

Daredevil has at long last formally arrived in the MCU and he is awesome!

From the start, let me say that this episode wasn’t great just because of Daredevil. She-Hulk was a big part of what made this episode work so well too! The chemistry between Charlie Cox and Tatiana Maslany was exceptional, but on top of that, this episode was funny in some places, had some solid action in others, and there was even a bit of drama! The courtroom scene was fantastic too! Really, this episode was what I hoped this series was going to be before it launched, and this episode was the kind of quality that I’ve come to expect from Marvel Studios as a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That doesn’t mean it was perfect. We still had to deal with the irritating Todd character and what was yet another goofy character in Leap Frog (portrayed by Brandon Stanley). Yes, Leap Frog is a guy that dresses up as a frog, and yes, Leap Frog is from the comics, but again, these types of goofy characters just don’t work for me. Leap Frog was presented as a complete idiot, but his idiocy was at least an integral part of the plot. After his suit caught fire during a night of would-be crime-fighting, Leap Frog decides to sue superhero costume designer Luke Jacobson, and She-Hulk is assigned his case. This infuriates Jacobson and provokes him to blacklist She-Hulk.

In court, She-Hulk is ready to make her case, and we discover who Jacobson’s lawyer is. It’s Matt Murdock!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Murdock goes on to win the case for Jacobson after using his unique abilities to detect that Leap Frog had grossly violated the rules for safe use of his suit, which Jacobson had previously thoroughly explained. After court, Jen and Matt share a drink, after which Leap Frog calls Jen for help against an unnamed assailant. Jen springs into action as She-Hulk, complete with a superhero suit (finally) and the man she ends up encountering is Daredevil! After a skirmish during which Jen unmasks Daredevil and discovers that he is Matt Murdock, Matt explains that Leap Frog has kidnapped Luke Jacobson, hence the reason he was stalking him.

This prompts a Daredevil / She-Hulk team-up where Jacobson is saved, and Jen falls back in his good graces. Jen has become completely smitten with Matt by this point, and the with feeling being mutual, Jen and Matt sleep together.

Later, She-Hulk co-wins an award for Female Lawyer of the Year, During the ceremony, the Intelligencia strikes, airing previously recorded video of She-Hulk sleeping with Josh (which he recorded), along with her personal internet search history. This provokes She-Hulk into a fit of rage and she smashes the monitors, invoking the crowd into a panic. Jen then smashes through a wall, only to see Damage Control officers aiming weapons at her. The public has now seen Jen’s monstrous side, and that is not a good thing for She-Hulk.

I thought Marvel Studios hit a homerun with Daredevil here! I am a pretty big Daredevil fan! I love comics that feature him, specifically the runs by Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Mark Waid. I also really liked the Marvel Television Daredevil series that originally aired on Netflix, and I thought Charlie Cox was the living embodiment of the Matt Murdock / Daredevil character in that series. I would in fact put his casting right up there with the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, and Ryan Reynolds in the upper echelon of the all-time great live-action Marvel character castings.

Charlie Cox IS Matt Murdock!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

This episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law captured the full spirit of the Matt Murdock / Daredevil that we saw in the now former Netflix shows. The way that Matt Murdock looked, walked, and talked were completely the same. He had the same cadence, he had the same personality, and he wore a suit that was fashioned the same way that his suits were fashioned in the Daredevil series, only that it was predominantly yellow here. Hell, we even heard a direct musical cue from the theme of the Daredevil series that literally gave me goosebumps! From a character presentation standpoint, this version of Matt Murdock looked like he stepped right out of that Marvel Television series, though, like Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk / Kingpin (in Hawkeye), he did seem to boast a significant power upgrade. Not only did Daredevil fight a Hulk and hold his own, but he jumped down a building like he was Spider-Man or something as well, but yeah, that’s really the only notable change. On top of all of that, we even got a hallway fight (if you know, you know), and She-Hulk’s powerful interruption of that fight and her subsequent “She-Hulk Smash” line was one of the best moments from this episode! I loved it!

I applaud Marvel Studios for handling the Daredevil character the way that they have, which is by simply letting Charlie Cox do his thing and I really can’t wait to watch Daredevil: Born Again! It should be epic!

Jen and Matt hooking up worked for me due to the aforementioned strong chemistry between the two actors. It seemed natural and not forced, and it was really cool how Matt was written to sort of mentor her and encourage her in her double life. Their flirting was fun, and Matt showing Jen that she can achieve justice through the law as well as through being a superhero when the law fails was really powerful. Oh, I also absolutely loved just hearing Charlie Cox say the words “Sokovia Accords!” It’s a great time to be a fan for sure!

Beyond all things Daredevil, I really liked seeing She-Hulk Hulk-Out at the end of the episode! I mean, I hated it for Jen because what was done to her was really, really shitty, but seeing her become a rage monster was pretty cool! She was roaring and smashing, and it served as a reminder that for all of this show’s attempts at comedy, a lot of cool and scary things can be done with the She-Hulk character in future MCU projects!

I don’t know what to expect in terms of next week and the finale. I do think we are going to see a new Hulk emerge. That seems to fit the narrative that has driven this series since the first episode with Bruce warning Jen about how dangerous her blood can be, and the efforts by others to get her blood (which Josh seems to have done). Who will that Hulk be? Will it be the scumbag Josh, or the annoying Todd, or even Jen’s arch-nemesis Titania? Or will it be someone we haven’t met yet? Will The Leader be involved with the Intelligencia? Is Blonsky going to suit back up as The Abomination? How good or bad will the CGI be when we see this new Hulk?

Time will tell, but this episode was a big win!

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Whose Show is This? – Directed by Kat Coiro. Written by Jessica Gao

First Aired on October 13, 2022, on Disney+.

So, THAT happened!

I don’t know what you were expecting from the finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but I dare say that it wasn’t THAT! I know what I was expecting. A “Todd is the Big Bad” reveal, a new Hulk (which I assumed would be Todd). The return of Bruce Banner (thanks to the trailers), and a big CGI Hulk battle that would probably include Todd, She-Hulk, Smart Hulk, and The Abomination. I was also holding out hope for a Leader reveal, which I figured would come in a credits scene. And, excluding The Leader thing, that’s pretty much what we got … until we didn’t!

After varying weeks of high’s and low’s, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law did something so surreal and so crazy in its finale, I found myself at a loss for words. The Fourth Wall wasn’t just broken; it was completely shattered, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was dramatically changed through what was done!

Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Well, that’s up to each viewer to decide, but I have to admit that I kind of loved it! I thought it was brazen, daring, innovative, unconventional, and funny, and it stayed true to the overall spirit of this show and what it was trying to be, making sense of at least some of the things that seemed not to make sense upon initial viewing.

The finale opened with a parody / tribute / shot-by-shot reenactment of the 1970’s-1980’s The Incredible Hulk television series starring Bill Bixby. If you know, you know, and I thought this was a really neat sequence, complete with our first-ever look at a bigger, more muscular Savage She-Hulk. This sequence was just a dream of Jen’s, and we see that Jen has been detained by the Department of Damage Control over her public outburst that ended the previous week’s episode. Jen loses her job and her apartment and gets saddled with an inhibitor that will prevent her from transforming into She-Hulk. Pretty much everything has come crashing down for her.

From there, Nikki and Pug infiltrate an Intelligencia event with Pug going in undercover as a She-Hulk hater. This gathering takes place at Blonsky’s retreat, where a dejected Jen ventures to, which quickly brings everything to a head. We discover that Emil has been undergoing unlawful transformations into Abomination and that the annoying Todd character was in fact all along leading The Intelligencia in an effort to destroy Jen’s life and obtain her blood. Todd goes on to inject himself with Jen’s blood and begins to transform into a Hulk. Smart Hulk returns from Space and begins fighting The Abomination, Titania shows up too, and then … Jen suddenly stops the show and begins vocally complaining about the plot, exclaiming that nothing really makes any sense and that everything going on is not an appropriate ending to her story.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

We are abruptly taken to the Disney+ home screen, which Jen smashes through on the way to entering the Marvel Assembled section. Jen next arrives at the Marvel Studios offices (presumably in our world, or one that is very, very similar anyway) and confronts the writers of her show, who insist that she needs to see “Kevin.” Ever determined, Jen makes her way to find “Kevin” and meets K.E.V.I.N., a complex Artificial Intelligence program that oversees the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

K.E.V.I.N. Stands for Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus.

K.E.V.I.N. Is cleverly fashioned after Marvel Studios CCO Kevin Feige complete with a trademark baseball cap! Jen confronts K.E.V.I.N. and persuades K.E.V.I.N. to rewrite the finale of her show, and K.E.V.I.N. reluctantly agrees.

Fast forward and we catch up to Jen back in her show. Todd and Blonsky have both been arrested and Jen sits down for a family gathering that includes Matt Murdock. Smart Hulk also returns from Space and introduces everyone to his son Skaar. Also, Jen has reclaimed her job and all charges against her have been dropped.

All’s well that ends well.

The credits scene goes on to show Wong breaking Blonsky out of prison and inviting Emil to stay at Kamar-Taj.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

So, Jennifer Walters really is in a television show, and she knows it. She is part of a Shared Cinematic Universe, and she knows it. She even asked K.E.V.I.N. when The X-Men were coming into the MCU! So, she’s furthermore aware of the inner workings of the MCU as a Motion Picture franchise, as well as Marvel Studios as a company. And all MCU characters from Iron Man to Ms. Marvel were or are part of this same Cinematic Universe, only they didn’t know it, but Jen does!

There are lots of religious undertones to all of this when it comes to things like fate and predestination and God’s plan or God’s will, and things like that. There are also obvious ties to some of the themes that were explored with He Who Remains in Loki. He Who Remains claimed to be writing the Script but did K.E.V.I.N. actually write his script? Also, Arishem claimed to be the creator of the physical Universe and all life within it in Eternals, but now it would seem that he was overseen and directed by K.E.V.I.N. Just like a director oversees the production of a film and a writer provides the dialogue for the characters in the film.

It’s obviously very high concept and very meta, but in-Universe, it’s kind of complicated, for when bad things happen to good people, it’s K.E.V.I.N. who is allowing it! K.E.V.I.N. allowed the Snap and the Blip and it’s Kevin that dictated the deaths of Groot, Iron Man, and Black Widow, and it’s K.E.V.I.N. who restricts the free will of the characters it created through the manipulation of the events that unfold. Basically, all of the things that made He Who Remains a villain make K.E.V.I.N. a villain and maybe that makes K.E.V.I.N. the true Big Bad of the MCU … but K.E.V.I.N. is the creator of ALL things MCU, so K.E.V.I.N. is responsible for all of the good too. So, K.E.V.I.N. – like his namesake – is also kind of well, awesome!?!

Breaking all of this down, this finale reminded me of some of my favorite Marvel Comics stories. The first is Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. I highly recommend this short series that is everything that its title suggests. Deadpool is of course notorious for Breaking the Fourth Wall, and this story ends with Wade’s arrival in the real world (our world) and his ensuing declaration of war on Marvel writers and artists for allowing him to suffer as he had. Pretty cool stuff! The other story this reminded me of is another of my all-time favorites and it comes from Mark Waid and Mark Wieringo’s Fantastic Four run. This story sees The Fantastic Four venture to Heaven where they meet God, who turns out to be the incomparable Jack Kirby! It’s a really beautiful tale and one that I can’t recommend highly enough! This also reminded me a lot of She-Hulk comics themselves. She often confronts her editors, writers, and artists in her books and this concept was true to that!

The premise of this episode was along the lines of what I hoped to see Marvel Studios do with Deadpool. I’ve long thought that it would be cool to see Wade Wilson meet Kevin Feige within the context of the MCU. It ended up being She-Hulk instead, but as a Deadpool fan, I really do appreciate how this finale set up his inevitable MCU debut. Deadpool is going to Break the Fourth Wall aplenty, and now, that will make sense within the MCU narrative, because he too will know that he is in a film franchise.

Marvel Entertainment

We are in the Multiverse Saga, and the way I interpret all of this in-Universe is that we, the viewers of the MCU are part of the MCU Multiverse! It seems that when Jen became a Hulk, she became aware of our Universe and that’s why she talked to us the way that she did throughout the show. She knew that we were watching. I think Wanda Maximoff noticed us too for a split second in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse when she looked at the camera after taking over the body of her Multiversal counterpart. For his part, K.E.V.I.N. directs everything that happens within the MCU in an effort to cater to us, the viewer. To K.E.V.I.N., the audience is what matters most. K.E.V.I.N. wants to keep us engaged and K.E.V.I.N. wants to keep us surprised. K.E.V.I.N. wants to keep us coming back for more and more.

This is similar in some ways to the Marvel Comics character Mojo and his “Mojo World.”

Look, I criticized several elements of this show. There were things about this show that I didn’t enjoy and there were things that I didn’t like. The one thing that I didn’t really like about this finale in fact was that the writers pretty much told us that they agreed that this show was in large, poorly written and not all that interesting. They went out of their way to not really pay anything off that they spent the series building up. I don’t think that’s a good thing. They also went out of their way to sort of criticize the “MCU Formula” that you may or may not have heard / read about online. This is the belief that all Marvel Studios Film and TV productions are the same and that all of the Disney+ shows specifically (except for Loki) have ended with a big CGI fight of some kind pitting good vs evil, and there are people that have found this redundant and repetitive.

Personally, I enjoy the MCU formula because I enjoy stories surrounding Marvel Superheroes. I am all for changing things up and doing different things with different characters, but at the end of the day, these are extraordinary stories about remarkable people doing incredible things. It’s good vs evil with shades of gray, and I think the things that I enjoyed the least about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law were how hard it seemed to try to not be a superhero show. I’m not ashamed to be a comic book reader or a superhero fan, and while I understand the motives of attracting new people to whatever product it is you are trying to sell, I also believe that you can’t alienate your core audience. The Marvel Studios team need to stay true to themselves and the spirits of the characters they incorporate, and as long as they continue to do that unabashedly, they will continue to find success. I don’t think there is anything to apologize for.

Overall, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was not my favorite Marvel Studios series. In fact, it’s probably my least favorite Marvel Studios series so far. There were a few episodes that just seemed like filler, and I thought the writing was at times poor and that the overall pacing of the show was way off. Some episodes felt like they ended way too soon while others felt like they would never end. The CGI was also predominantly either really bad or just okay, and there were some really goofy characters. That being said, the episodes that were good were really good, with the last two episodes of the series really standing out as borderline special. The Daredevil stuff was excellent and exciting, and the finale was probably, with the exception of Loki, the best finale from Marvel Studios yet of all the Disney+ shows.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Highlights of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law:

Charlie Cox is Matt Murdock / Daredevil

Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk

Spirit of the Show Stayed True to Spirit of the Comics

Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk

Benedict Wong as Wong

Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky / The Abomination

Expanded MCU Hulk Mythology

Daring Fourth Wall Shattering Finale

K.E.V.I.N.

Patty Guggenheim as Madisynn

Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki

Josh Segarra as Pug

Mark Linn-Baker as Jen’s Dad

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:

Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk. Nikki. Pug. Mallory Book. Titania. Megan Thee Stallion. Todd Phelps. Donny Blaze. Madisynn. El Aguila. Man-Bull. Saracen. Porcupine. Mr. Immortal. The Wrecking Crew. Josh Miller. Leap Frog. Daredevil. The Intelligencia. Skaar. K.E.V.I.N.