“She-Hulk” is a hulk of disappointment

For many people, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has a special place in their hearts. Many people have their own favorite characters from the MCU’s massive roster; however, She-Hulk is highly unlikely to be one of them.

“She-Hulk, Attorney at Law” is a Marvel television show in the process of being uploaded onto Disney-Plus. In this show, Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) is a thirty year old single attorney who specializes in superhuman-oriented legal cases (although this has rarely been shown so far). Receiving her superpowers after entering a car crash with Bruce Banner (The Hulk), She-Hulk attempts to learn her abilities to use them for good.

She-Hulk, however, seems to be an immature and unliked character by her audience. In one scene, Banner and Walters begin comparing their own pasts in ways they used to deal with their anger and trauma. She-Hulk claims that she was used to bottling up her anger due to how society treated women (although it was clear she was not containing her anger). Yet, at the same time, she was comparing her own experiences with Bruce’s, the only recorded MCU character to attempt suicide.

Banner received a different circumstance than Walters, as his powers forced him to morph into a six foot tall, muscle bulging, green skinned, and range fueled monster. At the beginning of Bruce’s arc, he feared his power and inability to control it. Bruce even attempted suicide only for “the other guy to spit it (the bullet) out,” referring to how he used an unmanned firearm in an attempt to take his own life, only for him to transform into the hulk and spit out the bullet. 

Although Walter’s position is understandable, their plights are almost incomparable and feels more like a mocking competition than an actual conversation about how to control rage, which does an injustice to both characters.

Walters also acts vain and is an extremely one-sided character who could be coined as a “Mary Sue,” a female character who has been given ridiculously powerful abilities at the cost of doing little to nothing compared to others. A “Mary Sue” feels cheap due to the fact there is no character growth, leading the story to feel as if nothing has changed about the character and to make it difficult to like or cherish them. “Mary Sues” are often thrown in to show female representation, but they overall cheapen a story by being able to gain powers to bulldoze through the plot while leaving behind major continuity errors. 

For example, She-Hulk could merely clap and the sound waves reverterbrating from her hands at a constant pace could knock down The Hulk, despite resisting that power in his original movie, “The Incredible Hulk.” She-Hulk is incredibly over-confident, both as a regular attorney and as the She-Hulk despite the original comic material showing that she was often shy and lacking self-confidence. Before becoming the She-Hulk, the actress of She-Hulk claimed that, “Jennifer needs to be pulled out of her shell” by her best friend, Niki Rammos, who is also in the field of law. 

Overall, it feels like what the writers for the series have done is make a half-hearted script about girl power that feels unearned, unwarranted, and disappointing to its audience. Overall, given the use of “woke” influence alone rather than a good plot and likable characters to power a show.

Rating: 1/5