Sorry, Trolls: ‘She-Hulk’ Premiere is a Smashing Good Time
In the ‘She-Hulk’ premiere, Jennifer Walters is a fourth-wall-breaking lawyer here to answer the burning question, does Captain America fu–
Sorry, IMDB trolls, hate to break your hearts, but the She-Hulk series is really good. For the rest of us who love and appreciate Shulkie, the first episode of Marvel’s newest series was a laugh-out-loud good time – and it answered a few of our most burning questions about the MCU.
Past this point, there are some spoilers for the ‘She-Hulk’ premiere episode.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
The Fourth Wall Breaking
This is the first fourth-wall-breaking character to officially appear in the MCU. It’s a handy little device that calls back to the comics, but it also provides a narrative device for Shulkie’s origin story. Typically, Marvel introduces a new series character by building the first season around the character’s background, and how they got their powers, and these events typically set them on their future path. But thanks to Jennifer’s quick aside at the end of the first scene, we get a nice, tidy flashback that covers our lead character’s transformation, training, and return to her regular life as an extraordinary hero. It’s much more compelling than a montage, but much more succinct than Marvel usually gets when it comes to telling origin stories.
There’s a bit of a change in She-Hulk‘s origin stories, and it’s all for the better. In the comics, the mob is involved, there’s a failed hit, and Bruce is somehow the only option for a blood transfusion to save Jen’s life. Not so here. The story’s choice to use a car accident as a means to contaminate Jen’s blood makes way more sense. Also, pretty sure that’s a Sakaaran ship, so I’m curious to see who’s visiting from the Hulk fandom planet.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Now We Know What Bruce Was Doing During the Blip
As expected, the show gave us a better look at the process that helped Bruce integrate his and the Hulk’s personalities. We learned that Bruce developed a doohickey that keeps him from transforming into the Hulk, which we saw him using in the Shang-Chi post-credits scene. It also told us that Jen’s own reaction to gamma irradiation was the key to helping Bruce to heal and control his own Hulk. This episode also gives Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk a spotlight – this is the first time we’ve seen him interacting with characters from his own personal life (a fact that Jen calls attention to when she criticizes him for not seeing his family during this time).
I absolutely love that Jen’s ability to do things more easily than Bruce in her Hulk form expresses itself as a sibling-like rivalry. It’s fun, it allows the characters to tussle and the audience to enjoy it. But the most illuminating moment by far is Jen explaining to Bruce why she’s integrated with her Hulk and he isn’t. Women, particularly those in her field, are more often than not having to control some kind of anger. I loved the performances on both parts. Tatiana Maslany is excellent at portraying the nuance of emotion in her transformation while Ruffalo succeeds in portraying a teacher who actually has plenty to learn himself.
Also, Captain America is Not a Virgin
Now we’re answering the important questions! It’s official – Steve gets some.
Sorry bro. It was under extreme duress.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) August 18, 2022
The hot goss on Steve’s sex life is just one of many hilarious and illuminating moments in the show’s first episode. I’ll certainly be tuning in to find out more about how Jen will use her She-Hulk powers and who’s come from Sakaar to Earth – and what for.
Also, in case you missed it, Marvel dropped another QR code that lets you read The Savage She-Hulk #1 for free.
