MCU’s She-Hulk’s Uneven Rocky Start

Jade Baxendale, Editor-in-Chief

Marvel Studios She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has released five episodes so far, and audience opinions vary greatly. Ever since the first trailer was released and the CGI was sub-par to put it lightly, many people have been criticizing this show. While people have a range of problems with She-Hulk, ranging from a dislike of the show’s humor to plain old misogyny, there are also those who believe the show is a fresh look for the MCU.

She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall

She-Hulk follows the story of Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), a Los Angeles attorney who also happens to be cousins with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) aka the Hulk. When the two of them go on a vacation together that ends in a car crash, Bruce’s blood enters her system and she gains the powers of the Hulk making her She-Hulk. Throughout the show, Jennifer struggles to balance her career with her newfound powers placing her in a variety of scenarios that are both absurd and heroic– despite her desire to retain her “normal” life.

In terms of quality, the show has been a rollercoaster, to say the least. The first episode starts off with an engaging storyline, silly humor, and some surprisingly deep moments, but ends with the most out-of-place and bizarre fight scene. The next two episodes keep up the silly humor and engaging storylines, but the CGI takes a hit making it hard to focus, at times, on the story. So far in the following episodes, the humor has become so absurd that it feels like they’re relying more on uninteresting jokes than coherent storylines. Audiences will have to see whether the show picks up in future episodes, or if it continues to descend into complete madness.

Jennifer Walters stands in the courtroom right after revealing herself to be a Hulk.

One thing She-Hulk does wonderfully well is to display the challenges women face, specifically in rigorous male-dominated career paths. As a woman, it’s both surprising and validating watching Marvel start to accurately display the lives of women, rather than making them sexualized side characters.

One of the best depictions of the female experience in the show comes when Jen explains why she’s able to control herself as She-Hulk. Jen explains, “Here’s the thing Bruce, I’m great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time–when I’m catcalled in the street, and when incompetent men explain my own area of expertise to me. I do it pretty much every day because if I don’t, I will get called emotional, difficult, or might just get murdered. So I’m an expert at controlling my anger because I do it infinitely more than you.” Just this one quote shows Marvel has come a long way from the humiliating “girl power” scene in Avengers: Endgame that just feels wrong.

Is this show perfect? Far from it. But, She-Hulk is a fun show, that’s worth a watch despite the opinion of some Marvel bro-dudes who get scared away by the sight of a strong female character.