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Disney’s latest Marvel Comics addition, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” combines humor and action while its storyline and characters empower women. Bruce Banner’s cousin, Jennifer Walters, is confident, intelligent, personable, caring, and self-reliant, yet vulnerable. She is totally relatable.
The first episode, “A Normal Amount of Rage,” unveiled splendid on-screen chemistry that will bring audiences back for each woman empowering adventure. Tatiana Maslany, as Jennifer, and Mark Ruffalo, as Bruce, play off one another as though they were family members raised together. As cousins, their interactions are priceless and humorous as they invite viewers into an intimacy built on years of trust.
Maslany easily transitions from Walters, a 30-something lawyer, to a green six-foot-seven-inch superpowered Hulk and from character to commentator when she breaks the fourth wall — she speaks directly to the audience. Her expertise comes from starring in “Orphan Black.” Maslany spectacularly portrayed 14 clones; they had the same face and radically different personalities.
MCU fans would be surprised that Banner told his cousin he is “Smart Hulk” rather than “Professor Hulk,” as he was identified in Marvel comics and introduced in “Avengers: Endgame” after his personalities reconciled and merged. But, as he told She-Hulk, he did not have much choice about his Hulk name.
During the first scene, viewers learn Jennifer (Jen) is a University of California graduate as she practices the closing argument for her case. A male colleague, Dennis, and her best friend, Nikki Ramos (Ginger Gonzaga), offer her their points of view; Dennis thinks she should let him do the closing, whereas Nikki believes she is terrific. She boosts Jen’s ego with talk of her being a future District Attorney.
Then comes the breakaway as Maslany turns to the audience and declares, “I am a Hulk,” followed by the backstory three months earlier. Included are how she was infected and her cousin’s efforts to help her control transitioning.
The familial relationship between Walters and Banner and how she became She-Hulk may also surprise fans. Some thought she would be his sister based on a concept of the title character rumored after the success of “The Incredible Hulk.”
Reportedly, the series producer, Kenneth Johnson, considered creating a female Hulk. “Their plan was to take [Banner’s] sister, a character already established by early episodes, and have her receive an emergency blood transfusion from him,” according to IMDb’s Trivia.
“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” debuts new episodes on Thursdays on Disney+.
Hulk-sized action and laughs. We have it all! pic.twitter.com/5xcJbPXU8b
— She-Hulk (@SheHulkOfficial) August 19, 2022
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
IMDb: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Trivia
CNN: Marvel’s ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ courts your interest with a half-hour comedy; by Lisa Respers
Rotten Tomatoes: TATIANA MASLANY AND TEAM SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW TALK ABOUT SMASHING INTO THE MCU
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Pat Loika’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
