The premiere of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduces Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters. In doing so, it officially adds yet another superhero to the growing lineup of leading superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the character’s deep roots in the comics themselves, many fans have been excited to see how the green powerhouse would be brought to life through this new series. The debut episode was inconsistent, and while it offered some bright spots, the plot put a typical origin story on hyperspeed and failed to dig deep enough to gain any meaningful traction as a compelling narrative.
Starting with the positives, unlike some of the MCU’s recent offerings on Disney Plus, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is deeply tied into the world (or the multiverse) that its numerous predecessors have established. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is prominent throughout the episode as he tries to help Jennifer deal with her new powers after a freak accident. In addition to some breadcrumbs of potential future stories and Easter eggs to previous installments, like a spaceship from Sakaar, the viewer also gets to see how The Hulk has grown since he was last seen in Avengers: Endgame. By the time he’s showing Jennifer around the isolated base that Tony Stark built for him, Bruce is still clearly hurting in the aftermath of the climactic film. He references Tony’s death, and his gentle sadness is apparent. Likewise, when he looks back on The Blip, he recalls how he and Tony commiserated over the loss of Steve Rogers by building his bar together. These moments add more depth and meaning to the stories told within the blockbuster films several years after they first came out.
Having some unexpected emotional layers to the narrative is a pleasant surprise, but the overall story is light on substance. The viewer first meets Jennifer after she has turned into a Hulk, and she proceeds to recap how she got her powers by accidentally coming into contact with Bruce’s blood during a car accident. The episode then becomes a prolonged montage of Bruce training Jennifer in a variety of ways, using mindfulness techniques, doing strength exercises, and testing her ability to transform. Eventually, once she’s had enough, she leaves Bruce behind, after violently fighting with him for the fight to do so, and the episode shifts back to the present day.
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Jennifer is prepared to present her closing argument at a trial when Titania (Jameela Jamil) crashes through the wall and starts wreaking havoc. Jennifer hulks out and easily defeats her, so her transformation is complete. The short runtime (35 minutes) crams this entire story into one episode, whereas it could have benefitted from having the space to breathe in order to flesh out any number of the themes that come up throughout the episode, such as sexism, feminism, or, more generally, having to deal with a traumatic event that turns your life on its head.
Otherwise, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law falls short because, while it’s supposedly meant to be a comedy, it’s not particularly funny. Aside from a few bits and comical scenes, like Bruce explaining that Hulks can drink as much as they want due to their unique anatomies, laughs are few and far between throughout the episode. In one of Jennifer’s first conversations with Bruce, she asks him about Steve and wonders whether he was a virgin. She explains how he couldn’t possibly have had the time to have sex with someone because he’s always been so busy. The attempt to poke fun at Steve’s virginity is there, but it misses the mark. Even the mid-credits scene, which takes things a step further, is unsuccessful in this regard. For all intents and purposes, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been marketed like a comedy, and the lack of genuinely funny moments is a turn-off throughout the show.
It’s never fair to write anything off after the first episode, so hopefully the next one will show some progress. If nothing else, the premiere laid the foundation for the series by essentially throwing Jennifer into the deep end and forcing her to deal with a remarkably challenging situation. Now that she has sped through it and reached the other side, the rest of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will have the opportunity to take what’s currently a two-dimensional story and turn it into a complex narrative that the viewer can sink their teeth into.
