She-Hulk: A Needed Change of Pace
Image Courtesy of Variety
By Jack Cherico
Marvel Studios’ latest project, She-Hulk- Attorney at Law, concluded on October 13th, 2022, after a 9-episode run starting in August 2022. The legal comedy starred Tatiana Maslany as the titular She-Hulk, with cameos from Marvel favorites such as Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Tim Roth’s Abomination, and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. The show highlights the life of Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner’s (The Hulk’s) cousin, an attorney in Los Angeles who, in a car accident with Banner, ingests hulk blood and gains the powers of the not-so-jolly green giant. The series took a more grounded approach with Walters’ problems centered around her dating life, while also having episodes focused on the “Superhuman6 Law Division” where She-Hulk worked.
In the comics, She-Hulk has been a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. She is similar to her live-action depiction, with superhuman strength and a green hue, while most of her normal characteristics and personality stay with her after her transformation into Hulk form. This deviates from the original Hulk, who often has an intense rage that overwhelms his human characteristics. This difference in the two characters was a major complaint that audiences had about She-Hulk, and they felt as if She-Hulk had not gone through the same hardship of balancing two personalities, keeping one’s anger below a certain level, and being treated as a monster that the Hulk had in the early Marvel films. However, the show explains this difference by saying that Walters has had to control her anger her whole life because she is a minority in her profession and deals with catcalling and other issues women face. In the comics, the Hulk rage associated with the character is a result of Bruce Banner’s trauma endured at the hand of his father as a child.
Regarding the show’s objective, She-Hulk is meant to be funny, lighthearted, and have low stakes. This is entirely different from the previous shows Marvel has released recently, with the studio having trouble adding comedy into more serious shows while making other shows and movies too goofy, according to fans. She-Hulk is unapologetically itself and does not claim that it’s a serious show, with Walters breaking the fourth wall multiple times to speak to the audience and characters in the show being too outlandish for real life.
Marvel projects have been characterized by a formula, with a character enduring hardship, a few cameos from other characters in the universe, the second to last episode of the season setting up a final battle, and the season finale being a massive final battle with the hero coming out on top. She-Hulk viewers thought they would be getting the same thing, and I personally rolled my eyes when every character from the show so far appeared in the finale, especially when Abomination and Hulk started fighting, completely ignoring the character development of Roth’s Emil Blonsky (The Abomination). As if She-Hulk had read my mind, the character spoke to the audience, expressed how ridiculous this finale was, and didn’t wrap up any plot points correctly. She then stepped through the Disney+ menu screen and walked directly into the Marvel Studios lot to confront a robot named K.E.V.I.N., an obvious reference to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who has a massive role in all the productions from the studio.
Marvel fans have been complaining for years about how the movies and shows have been too formulaic and as if robots make them, so to see the show acknowledging this was a highlight of the series for viewers. She-Hulk was different, comedic, and didn’t take itself too seriously, which is a far cry from other Marvel productions. The studio’s considerable risk paid off and proved that it can deviate from the formula and still make good content that people enjoy.
