Disney+ has given us multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe series this year, from the psychological thriller Moon Knight to the coming-of-age sci-fi series Ms. Marvel. Now it’s time for the MCU to explore yet another uncharted territory: legal comedy. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law stars Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, a single attorney in her 30s who becomes a 6-foot-7 green superhero with super-strength. She must work with her cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to train to be a Hulk while taking on threats in the world and the courtroom.
The first four episodes of She-Hulk are a bit of a miss. The show always remains decently entertaining, but much like Thor: Love and Thunder, there are many issues with the writing once you think further about the series. Jessica Gao’s TV series preserves the character’s fourth-wall-breaking nature from the comics by having scenes where Jennifer turns to the camera and talks to us, the audience. This allows for a much more self-aware outing for the MCU, winking at fans, their knowledge, and their expectations for this show. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it creates some humorous Fleabag-esque jokes.
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The series premiere has some fun but is held back by the writing. Jennifer’s origin story as She-Hulk feels rushed as it happens early on when a spaceship intercepts the car she and Bruce are in, leading to a car crash where his blood gets mixed with hers. In four episodes, the sudden appearance of a spaceship is seldom brought up again. Meanwhile, the series jumps very quickly from her origin to the training montage, where we go into the character of Hulk more than any of the other MCU movies and shows have. As Bruce takes Jennifer through the ropes of being a Hulk, we get fun tidbits, such as how he wears spandex and can drink without getting drunk.
However, the training montage doesn’t feel like Jennifer is training because she starts out good at everything. While Bruce teaches her how to be a Hulk, she consistently excels from the very beginning, bypassing 14 years’ worth of character development for Bruce Banner and bringing her to Smart Hulk’s level immediately. While the term “Mary Sue” gets thrown around loosely to the point of oblivion, we never see Jennifer fail at anything, leading to the mystery of how this series could be so dedicated to committing a flaw existing in franchises for years.
The writers likely wanted Jennifer to have a different character journey than Bruce, not wanting her to go down the path of anger, wrestling with her other identity, and coming to peace with it. But by the time the first episode ends, it feels like she has fully learned how to embrace her power. Years worth of character development get condensed into a half-hour episode of TV. The fact that Jennifer is a lawyer who wants to focus on her law career instead of being a superhero is interesting, making a fun contrast for Marvel’s latest TV protagonist, Ms. Marvel, who wanted to be an Avenger. The idea of a 6-foot-7 green woman in a courtroom is a hilarious juxtaposition, and the series gets a good amount of mileage out of that.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was created by Jessica Gao, and the first four episodes were directed by Kat Coiro. It’s refreshing to see an MCU series be written from a female perspective, but it only works half the time. It works when the show features women supporting women and takes us through the horrors of online dating in your 30s. It works when She-Hulk pokes fun at the sexist response to the show from all the people who use “M-She-U” unironically. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work when the series brings in a character named Dennis Bukowski (Drew Matthews), who is written to be the most reductive, cartoonishly sexist character and serves as the easiest punching bag for the audience. He has no nuance because he feels more like a caricature designed to make the audience feel a certain way.
Some parts of the show work, such as a subplot surrounding Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky/Abomination, who reprises his role from The Incredible Hulk and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. However, She-Hulk offers many other legal subplots, which all feel underwritten and unnecessary. The series is generally fun, but there are some eye-twitching moments, including one subplot surrounding Megan Thee Stallion. Furthermore, it has a meandering nature where it feels like it’s making itself up as it goes along. There are a few antagonists here and there for Jennifer to face off against. Still, four episodes in, it feels like She-Hulk has no idea what it wants to do, bringing in familiar faces and having fun storylines while winking to the audience, hoping it’ll get you on their side.
The best part of this show is the amount of charisma Maslany brings to the table. It’s a shame that the writing doesn’t always keep up. For a comedy show, it never gets as many laughs out of you as you would like. The writing for Disney+ originals has gotten weaker as they appear to have emphasized quantity over quality. There’s a scene in the premiere that’s sure to face hell from Twitter where the Hulk tries to stop a truck driving towards him, but the truck slams him to the ground. Why didn’t the Hulk just pick up the truck with his bare hands? Because the show’s writing is lackluster enough where everything is dismissed for a few jokes. She-Hulk is never dull, as there is always some fun surrounding a magician plot and a hilarious new character named Madisynn. But there are far better options if you want a show with good writing.
SCORE: 5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 5 equates to “Mediocre.” This score means that the positives and negatives wind up negating each other, making it a wash.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a screener link for ComingSoon’s She-Hulk episodes 1-4 review.
