THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known to have a specific set of storytelling where it has to be an epic narrative. Knowing this makes it a pleasant surprise when they try to make a change in Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
PLOT
The series’ pilot ‘A Normal Amount of Rage’ follows lawyer Jennifer Walters, who is the cousin of the Incredible Hulk himself, Bruce Banner. One day when going out for a drive, they are attacked by a Sakaaran spaceship. The incident caused her to cross-contaminate and become a hulk of her own. However, Bruce takes her to a private lab of his in Mexico where he’s able to explain they share a special genetic condition that allows them to process gamma radiation. And as a bonus, synthesizing hers helped him heal his arm that was injured as a result undoing Thanos’ Blip. When he encourages her to stay so he can help her master her abilities, they learn she can still be a hulk but still have her own personality without acting like a monster. Despite the need of heroes like the Avengers, Jen prefers her previous life as a lawyer because she refuses to abandon a life she worked so hard for. With reluctance, her cousin allows her to leave. Only after a few months from gaining her powers does she embrace them when she defends a courthouse from an attack by the super powered influencer Titania.
‘Superhuman Law’ shows Jen get fired by the district attorney’s office and her case results in mistrial due to her coming out as She Hulk possibly causing the jury to result in her favor. Luckily, she gets hired by Holden Holliway (Steve Coulter) by GLK&H to represent a superhuman firm under her new persona. She agrees to it under the condition that her best friend Nikki Ramos as her paralegal. On his first case at work, she is assigned to represent Emil Blonsky, formerly known as Abomination who almost killed her cousin in a catastrophic brawl in Harlem years prior. SHe does visit him in a supermax prison created by the Department of Damage Control, where he seems to prove being rehabilitated when explaining he was given the Super Soldier Serum to fight Bruce. After hearing him out, she calls her cousin and lets her know she will take the case without bias; Thankfully, Bruce who is on the way to Sakaar, encourages her to do it since he has already made amends with him a long time ago. Jen would start having second thoughts when news reports reveal Abomination was spotted at an underground fight club in Macau.
‘The People vs Emil Blonksy’ shows Jen confronting him at the same prison he returned to willingly where he explains he was removed from the cell by the Sorcerer Supreme Wong. With the help of Nikki contacting him, he agrees to testify at his parole hearing. In another case, her colleague Augustus Pugliese gets assigned to a case in which her ex colleague Dennis Bukowski (Drew Matthews) approaches the firm being defrauded by a shape shifting Light Elf from New Asgard named Runa, who was impersonating hip hop artist Megan thee Stallion. Bukowski and Pug win the case when Jen admits the former to be believably delusional enough to fall for a ruse. As a result, Runa gets charged $175,000 and is sentenced to 60 days in prison for impersonating a judge, which pleases the real Megan that attends the trial. Blonsky does get released on parole when proving he can transform to Abomination willingly and would’ve not left had it not been for Wong. After the sorcerer admits he took him for his own personal training as Sorcerer Supreme, he departs before he could face consequences for a prisoner escape. When returning home, Jen defends herself from a four man criminal group called ‘The Wrecking Crew’, who were trying to take a sample of blood as they were hired by an anonymous employer.
‘Is This Not Real Magic?’ shows Wong reaching out to Jen for help against a magician named Donny Blaze being unethical with his use of practicing Mystic Arts, which he found out when a partygoer named Madisynn was summoned to his home via portal. Walters takes him up on it since Blaze violated the core tenet to not use magic for personal gain. Because of no NDA/contract done between both men, the judge declares him to continue his use of magic. That of course would be a bad decision because in another magic show, Donnie accidentally unleashes a swarm of demons that Wong deals with creatures. Walters does help him in the middle of a date with a guy she met online. After cleaning up Donny’s mess does he and his curator Cornelius P Willow (Leon Lamar) agree to a cease and desist. The following morning, Jen is slammed with a trademark infringement by the newly freed Titania
‘Mean, Green and Straight Poured Into These Jeans’ shows the influencer use the name She Hulk for a makeup brand. Jen gets Mallory Book assigned as her lawyer and uses her dating profile to confirm she had identified as She Hulk long before Titania launched her product. It goes to her liking when past dates testifying, crude billionaire Todd Phelps who called her a specimen, and an oncologist named Arthur (Michel Curiel) who admitted he was more attracted to She Hulk than Jen. As a result, Titania had to discontinue her new product. During this case, Nikki and Pug reach out to highly exclusive tailor Leo Jacobson (Griffin Matthews) to make a super suit and some business suits for Jen. They go there originally to get exclusive Iron Man themed sneakers before doing something for their friend, but little do they know he has recently made one supersuit for the vigilante Daredevil.
‘Just Jen’ shows Walters being invited to be a bridesmaid for a wedding of an old friend named Lulu (Patti Harrison). She tries to remain herself to avoid being the center of attention, but hulks out to defend herself from Tiiania who was stuck up over losing the infringement case. Shortly after this she brushes it off and hooks up with a nice guy named Josh (Trevor Slater). At GLK&H, Nikki & Mallory are assigned to a divorce case involving a man named Mister Immortal who kills himself to get out of marriages. They agree to a compensation deal involving the past spouses after discovering one of his deaths get posted on Intelligencia. However, Nikki & Mallory both look into the site to see that the site has a bunch of hate posts towards She Hulk. Mallory insists not telling Walters to not let it get to her head, but Nikki leaves a voicemail to avoid being secretive. Elsewhere, scientists are spying on Jen, hoping to get a blood sample for their employer who is named “HulkKing” on Intelligencia.
‘The Retreat’ shows Jen being upset with the fact Josh ghosted her after multiple dates. She visits Blonksy at his spiritual retreat when his parole officer informs her that his inhibitor is broken and asks her to check on him. When her car is accidentally damaged by other superpowered people at the retreat, she has no choice but to be there for the remainder of the day until a tow truck shows up. She puts the time to good use by bonding with the others that encourage her to move on from Josh by deleting his contact information before she goes home. A flashback however shows he was taking advantage of her the whole time by cloning her phone and getting her blood sample on behalf of HulkKing.
‘Ribbit and Rip It’ shows Jen represent amateur vigilante Eugene Patillo/Leap Frog who wants to sue Jacobson for faulty boosters. However, he quickly loses when the latter’s attorney Matt Murdock proves Patillo disobeyed the instructions of using jet fuel. The blind lawyer shows respect to her by expressing she is in an unique position to help others as both a lawyer and a hero. Later that night, she gets a call by Patillo for backup against an unknown assailant. That ends being Matt as Daredevil and when they cross paths, Daredevil clarifies that Leap Frog is the enemy because he kidnapped Jacobson to force him improve the suit and make more for his followers he calls Tadpoles. After they fight them off together and hand them to the cops, they end up hooking up. The following evening, Jen attends the Southern California Law Awards Gala and ends up accepting Female Lawyer of the Year award alongside other women, but the joy ends when Intelligencia hacks the event. The hate campaign gets what they want in humiliating her by revealing footage of her affair with Josh, in which she didn’t know she was recorded at the time. Enraged, she unleashes her rage by smashing the screen and trashing the gala.
The finale ‘Whose Show is This?’ shows Jen get arrested for he violent outburst by DODC and must now wear an inhibitor that prevents her from using her powers. Although she gets released by Mallory, the inhibitor being the term for the plea is what has her lose her job at GLK&H. Wanting to expose those that wronged her friend, Nikki is able to manage an invite for a private gathering held by HulkKing and she takes Pug with her. The place ends up being held by the same retreat Blonsky is at which Jen goes to hoping to get his emotional support. At the gathering, Todd Phelps is revealed to be HulkKing all along and has Abomination as a motivational speaker who is unaware of Intelligencia’s true methods. Just when Jen walks in on the gathering, Phelps injects himself with the sample he got from Josh and becomes his own hulk. Just as this happens, Titania and Bruce suddenly appear and it leads to a chaotic brawl all over the place. Seeing the confusion, Jen breaks the fourth wall and roams around Marvel Studios hoping to reach Marvel Studios president/producer Kevin Feige for a change in the ending. Instead, she meets an artificial machine called KEVIN (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus) who is responsible for the story decisions of past MCU entries. Surprisingly, she is able to persuade the algorithm to change her story climax. Instead, we see all of Intelligencia get taken down for their targeted attack towards her and Titania is present to blog about the incident. As Jen gets her job back and continues dating Matt, Bruce returns home from Sakaar to reveal he has an illegitimate son named Skaar. The series ends in a post credit cliffhanger showing Wong breaks Blonsky out again and takes him to Kamar Taj.
THOUGHTS
The best way to discuss the series is through Pros and Cons.
PROS: While we’re likely not gonna get another Incredible Hulk movie, that doesn’t mean we can’t get any more content related to the popular big green. And it’s a long overdue moment for She Hulk to be front and center as she was intended to have her own series on CBS, but that never happened since Stan Lee & Marvel wanted to keep the rights for themselves. With that being so long ago, it’s a relief to see this character finally get the spotlight. Showrunner Jessica Gao was able to bring fresh air in making series a straight up comedy while balancing enough drama to remind us how eventful this world still is. Episode by episode, my laughs go to every colorful character we see in what is a courtroom setting. Apart from the fact the lead protagonist is a lawyer, it feels accurate to get a reflection on how absurd some cases can be in real life. I actually support the idea of twerking with Megan thee Stallion because you’re lying if you say you wouldn’t dance with your favorite musical artist. Besides that, the various characters such as Peg O’Keef making a rascal out of Runa, Brandon Stanley being an entitled brat as LeapFrog, Rhys Coiro making Donny Blaze being a poser that disrespects culture for his own gain, or David Pasquesi making Mr Immortal an inventive yet societal of a scammer out of Mr. Immortal, you get your fair share of characters that bring more life to the scenery than expected. That same statement goes to Madisynn because Patty Guggenheim is able to play her to the tea because it was so fluent for her to be life of the party, being too drunk to react to the supernatural. I just wish she didn’t spoil The Sopranos to Wong because not everyone can binge so fast. I also thought Jameela Jamil made Titania the most realistic character because it makes sense for one with powers to be an influencer. Like LeapFrog, she’s got her own entitlement she builds for herself and when SheHulk blows up, she’ll express her jealousy however she wants to take her down. And because her repercussions are minimal, it makes her all the more realistic because influencers hardly get severe punishments these days. Despite being a courtroom comedy first, this is still the MCU so you’re gonna expect well designed costumes & set pieces, as well as amazing motion capture visual effects for bigger than life characters like the titular protagonist. I generally enjoy how she turned out and I don’t see a reason to criticize that of all things since this was made during the COVID-19 pandemic and I won’t expect perfection. With all great elements, I think this whole show is overall entertaining because it has a whole other spin in saying how important it is to embrace the parts about yourself that are unique, or you won’t be happy holding back. That is the case through the titular protagonist that is brought to life by a great lead. Tatiana Maslany was a great choice as Jen because she is so fluent in her sincerity and confidence she puts for herself as that it what helps through her life before even getting her powers. Once she gets it though, she has a bit of arrogance in her because it isn’t what she wants. She has prepared herself to make a difference as a lawyer and feels she doesn’t need to do extra to prove she cares. That is where her cousin gets the chance to inspire her and teach her there is no shame living two lives. Mark Ruffalo is still great as Bruce because of course he knows the struggle in the balance she fears of and with the training he got to give her, it was enough for her to come around in the long run. And the encouragement doesn’t stop with him because in Jen’s line of work, she found an inner circle that saw her point of view and respected it. Ginger Gozanga was awesome as Nikki for being the most upbeat, Renee Ellis Goldsberry made Mallory likable for being upfront in how to see things in two different lenses and taught Jen how to do that each time she had a setback. As for Josh Segarra, he made Pug standout for being genuinely thoughtful and sees Walters as an equal without being related to her by blood. Without such companions, it can be hard to wonder what path she’d take whether as a lawyer or a superhero. Since her fourth wall breaks were just as fluent as Deadpool, a character that was never publicized until after her debut, I also thought it was smart for her to confront KEVIN in how her ending should be in order to differentiate herself from the past because not everything has to be told the same and she knew that. However, it is a blessing she found a guy who had no reason to treat her any less of an equal. Charlie Cox’s return as Daredevil, after being officially introduced as canon in Spider-Man: No Way Home, was such an ideal addition to the cast off of understanding the double life she’s going through. He knows being different is a challenge yet he still found a way to get by, thus making him compatible with Jen. Although the fling didn’t seem to last as shown in his new series Born Again, I can still say it was still good while it did because he was one of a kind and it’ll be hard for a guy to top that. Before the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen became a part of She Hulk’s life, it made sense that people connected to Bruce would do the same. Tim Roth made all the right sense to return as Abomination because not everyone remains the same incarcerated. In his return to the MCU, his aggression is long past him and is filled with prosperity in his intent to move on with his life. However, just because you’re cleansed from your sins doesn’t excuse you to make more mistakes and that is what he realized when using his powers without permission. I can back up the fact he chooses to do this due to ironic encouragement. Filling in the gap from their Shang Chi cameos, it was cool to see Benedict Wong’s character needed an unusual opponent to test his limits, which came to show he’s not the kind to judge a book by the cover. Since he broke Emil out again, I hope he becomes an ally in the Avengers film. Last but not least, you know this story needed a villain that would get us talking and boy did we get one. Now Titania was up there as a hater, but Jon Bass dials it up as a guy who can’t stand it a woman has powers and he doesn’t. I knew he meant bad news when he called She Hulk a specimen, so I wasn’t surprised he was HulkKing all along. It is a relief he didn’t trade blows with her once exposed to her blood, because he saved himself from an embarrassing period of ass whooping. And Jen was also smart in rewriting him to not expose himself of the blood because lord knows what other problems could’ve been for him. With that situation put behind her thanks to the reveal of Skaar, the hulk family definitely has an interesting future ahead of them.
CONS: There is a lot of stuff that make this show work, but then there are elements that don’t add up where I would see why people give their share of hatred. Like I respect Bruce taking Jen to Mexico to help her learn her powers, but I feel like he should’ve left a note for her on where to go since she had no idea where he would take her. And if he’s gonna get picky about expensive equipment get damaged, he should’ve put her in a bed strong enough for her when she turns. Moving on, it’s so unprofessional that the DA fires Jen outside of work hours. It’s one thing to point out how easy it is for her to hit rock bottom, but a voicemail would’ve been less harmful if it was so important to do so. I’m also skeptical of Emil not sharing he also exposed himself to Bruce’s blood after the super soldier serum. It’s even a surprise the government doesn’t share that to Jen who could’ve had a different opinion on defending him if she wanted to. Also, why is Bruce behind on the news of what was going on with his cousin before he left earth? Just because he’s a scientist doesn’t mean he wouldn’t check in with her after she left Mexico. I then wonder why did Wong pick Abomination of all people to test his limits? If Bruce recommended him, it’s odd he didn’t mention that. And ain’t it wild he doesn’t have any consequences when ignoring the fact it’s a crime to break someone out of prison? I mean he’s lucky Jen still bothered representing him when she should’ve respectfully rejected him. And if we gotta get into continuity errors, how about Megan thee Stallion not being visible in court until after Runa is found guilty? I know she’s supposed to be a surprise, but having at least a stand-in would’ve fooled me. I felt Wong’s emotional pain when Madisynn drunkenly spoiled The Sopranos, but even that spoiler has a continuity error. His tv said he was on Season 6, but the scene Madisynn mentions was in Season 5. If there were reshoots to mess this up, I’ll blame that and nothing more. Also, the judge doesn’t pay attention to Titania giving a throat slash gesture towards Jen? The NFL can suspend and fine people for that shit and her not getting at least called out is ridiculous. I then feel like Jen should’ve gotten her invite way before 3 days in advance. I was given a month in advance for a wedding I was so invited to, so she is lucky to not come to work on an overnight case that weekend. The hypocrisy even goes too far because Lulu didn’t want She Hulk to distract everyone to her presence, but doesn’t mind that Titania the influencer is around. If she didn’t see the news like Bruce about their rivalry, then her wedding deserved to be crashed. It’s even dumb that Blonsky’s parole officer to call Jen for backup when he knows how much of a mess it was when Abomination fought Hulk in Harlem. I can’t be the only one who thought Jacobson was cold as hell telling She Hulk not to bloat before the gala when he knows he can make suits meant to adjust to her size. Just because you make super suits doesn’t excuse what was more of an insult. That makes me wonder if Emil got equipped with such clothes since it was easy for him to be Abomination at the retreat and turn back without the worry of ripping his clothes. Lastly if Jen is written to be a lawyer, why does she skim the NDA? No lawyer should skim an NDA. Other than that, this is still quite a good time. In conclusion, She Hulk: Attorney at Law is an impressive series for having an effort in breaking the norms that has defined the laid out storytelling the MCU is known for. If you got Disney+ and want to see a true shakeup for the subgenre of comic book adaptations, see this now.
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