The Savage-Classy-Bougie-Ratchet She-HulkI'll admit, I did find the "this isn't a cameo every week kinda show" 4th wall break in the same episode with a throwaway Megan Thee Stallion cameo to be kind of silly. I'm assuming it was an intentional juxtaposition, but who knows. All in all, I feel like this episode is when we first see the actual show come together. We get a glimpse, albeit brief, of antagonists and a possible plan behind them as well as finally start to see the very beginning of Jen accepting her She-Hulk image and trying to live with it instead of in spite of it. It took a few episodes to get to this point, but it didn't feel like wasted time since the first two episode carried enough developmental content to keep things moving along. The third episode, titled "the People vs Emil Blonsky," picks up with Jen confronting Blonsky as to the nature of his removal from his cell to participate in an underground fighting ring (as seen in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). Blonsky explains that while he was removed against his will, he returned by his own choice. He then puts Jen on the track of Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, who was responsible for the whole debacle. Legal-Darcy Nikki Ramos, Jen's paralegal, manages to set up a meeting with Wong, who confirms Blonsky's story and agrees to testify in his parole hearing. From there, we are introduced to plot B, which features hunky lawyer and former Arrow villain Pug being signed on to represent Dennis Bukowski, the douchebag lawyer and probable podcast host that Jen used to work with, who was defrauded by a magical elf pretending to be Megan Thee Stallion. Stories A & B intersect, much to the approval of Jen herself, when Jen is asked to testify that Bukowski is a delusional dillweed, thus helping Pug win the case. Throughout the whole episode, Jen receives advice from multiple characters that she needs to simply accept her lot in life as a She-Hulk and become part of the story in order to control the narrative. The episode ends with an appearance of the Wrecking Crew, who promptly get the absolute bejesus smacked out of them, before Jen reflects on her reflection and seems to like what she sees. Then she twerks with Megan Thee Stallion in the stinger. Which was delightful. This episode is definitely where a lot of threads get tied down, though they all happen quickly toward the end of the episode, meaning episode 4 is more than likely going to feel like a show officially out of it's developmental chrysalis and soaring into the overarching narrative of the season. Despite the writers claiming otherwise, I thought the courtroom elements were handled extremely well, which alleviated a lot of my worry from last week. That said, I can't really see much of a purpose to story B, the Bukowski trial. It's possible that Pug is going to become a bigger part of the show, something I definitely wouldn't mind because I overall enjoyed his time on screen andImeanlookathim, but it's a bit too early to tell. In a vacuum, the Bukowski stuff didn't feel entirely necessary. Sure, it was entertaining, but in a show with a fairly quick run time, it leaves me wondering if the time could have been better spent getting to the Wrecking Crew earlier than they did and maybe giving us a more detailed glimpse into whatever antagonist is behind them. Hey, at least we got our second cameo of the episode out of it. Speaking of cameos, Benedict Wong needs to be in every show, every movie, all of it. Wong is a fun character, overall. The MCU did an incredible job taking a mostly offensive comic character and turning him into gold. I would love to see Wong make more appearances in this show or even more MCU content. Same can be said for Tim Roth's Blonsky/Abomination. You can tell that Roth is excited to be back in the role, as he has stated in the lead up to the series, and it would be such an incredible waste of that character to not have him pop up a bit more. She-Hulk is running on all cylinders for me at this point. While there are definitely things to nitpick and poke fun at (sorry Nikki), the pacing of each episode has been spot on, the humor has been a delight, and overall the show feels like a very fresh story in a universe that has felt increasingly samey for a while now. We're finally getting content that reflects the narrative diversity that the comics have had for years, wherein not every super-powered tale has to be about high-stakes, world-ending problems, but can instead be about the person behind the powers. As this mini story arch comes to a close, I'm pumped to see what's next.
Episode 4 of She-Hulk premieres September 8th. Until then, keep on twerkin'.
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Less "She-Hulk" and more "She-just-wants-to-live-her-life"After a rapidly paced, action-filled first episode, She-Hulk's second entry slows things down a bit and takes a look at Jen as a person dealing with a sudden shift in the dynamic of her life. It was a welcome energy shift that not only did a lot of work developing Jen's character but also provided a lot of insight into the world of the MCU that we haven't been given by most of the previous shows and movies. We get to see what it's like for a super powered citizen of the MCU who doesn't have a government contract, isn't a villain or hero, and, most importantly, doesn't have a secret identity. It's a compelling angle that breathes a lot of much needed life and realism into the MCU. Episode 2, titled "Superhuman Law," picks up right after the smash-tacular conclusion of it's predecessor. We are shown glimpses of news stories talking about the events of the trial, including one reporter who coins the term "She-Hulk" and definitely will never stop bringing that up for the rest of his career. Jen is now thrust into this new world of celebrity as a brand new superhero on the scene. However, her moderate annoyance at the attention quickly turns even more sour, as her boss informs her she no longer has a place at the DA's office, which makes sense. Imagine getting called in for jury duty and the prosecutor is Santa Claus. You're probably gonna be a bit biased in your decisions from there on. Jen bounces from rejection to rejection at that point, constantly being told that she has too much attention to be hirable, succumbing to the fact that becoming a Hulk has potentially ruined her life (but sure tell me more about how changing the origin to an accident as opposed to Bruce willfully giving her Hulk blood was a bad thing). Begrudgingly, she makes a visit to her family, who all have questions about the Avengers (whom she's never met) and generally just treat her like families tend to, trying their darndest to connect but also being a bit awkward and condescending. Her father gives her some sage advice, and Jen leaves feeling maybe slightly better. It was a cute segment overall that didn't provide a ton for the story. However, it clearly separated this Jen even further from her comic counterpart, whose father was a tough Sheriff taking on the mob. Here we have a Jen that comes from fairly normal upbringing. An unexceptional, unsuper, loving family living out in the suburbs. I like it, honestly. As we'll discuss in an upcoming Key Issues episode, it's nice seeing characters with an uncomplicated family structure. Too often characters are forced into drama/conflict because a familial connection drags them into it, and while those stories aren't inherently bad, they can often be a bit stale. Having a super person be connected to just the most normal, basic people provides new opportunities for depth in the character themselves while also giving an easy outlet for grounding the character if things ever get a bit too larger-than-life-ish. Toward the latter half of the episode, we get to the main hook of the show that was shown in many of the recent trailers: Jen gets hired to be a defense lawyer for a big firm that is setting up a super person division. It happens to be the same scummy defense lawyer she was going up against in episode one and who filed for a mistrial that subsequently got her fired, but hey, second chances are what Hulks are all about, yeah? Jen herself has mixed feelings about this arrangement, feeling as though she was hired for her green and not her mean. For her smash and not her flash. For her, uh.... tallage and not her knowledge? Because she's a Hulk. She is worried she got hired because she's a Hulk... Anyway, while being a fairly obvious commentary for being hired for reasons beyond one's merits (whether that be for diversity or nepotism or large green punchy hands), Jen's entry into the firm creates an interesting hook for the show, putting a prosecutor on the other side of the aisle and sending Jen face to face with the man who tried to kill her cousin - Emil Blonsky. Tim Roth returns as the Abomination and is Jen's first client. It's nice to finally have a solid connection to the original Norton Hulk and also provided a really fun joke regarding the actor change. My only lingering worry from this whole thing is the direction the show is going to take. At this point, we've all seen the articles talking about how the writers discovered they couldn't do serious court room drama. Which, fine, it's definitely not an easy genre to write in. However, after the second episode I don't know if I truly WANT anything else. Tim Roth's return as a reformed abomination, Jen's navigating the law firm mine-field and the cavalcade of good and bad press shaking things up are all fun things, but I don't know how much life they'll truly have without court room sequences holding them down. Think of EVERY SVU episode you love and imagine it without the LAW portion. At that point it's just Stabler in tight pants, punching hoodlums and scowling. I'm exaggerating, obviously, but my point is just that I worry. I've liked both episodes so far and have the highest of hopes that I'll continue to enjoy the show. Tatiana Maslany is an incredible lead and makes every episode an absolute delight. I'm excited to find out the reasoning behind the 4th wall breaks, which has been said to have an in-universe explanation. I hope we find out what Bruce is up to as well, that sneaky ol' Hulk. All worries aside, I really do dig this show and am confident the showrunners are going to take it to incredible places.
She-Hulk Episode Three premieres September 1st. I'll see you then. *Insert Smashing Pun Here*It's no mystery that Marvel has had a hard go of things in their movies lately, but it has truly been their shows where they've found their new stride. While their movies are being repetitively judged for boring stories and tonal similarities, their Disney Plus productions have found legs as tonally varied productions with compelling characters and unique stories. After Moon Knight's completely isolated adventure and Ms. Marvel's heavily referential but very street level escapades, She-Hulk feels a little bit like coming home to the Avengers franchise that built the MCU from the ground up, featuring a highly powered character in New York and the return of OG Avenger Bruce Banner. However, despite existing in the Avengers bubble, She-Hulk quickly establishes itself as yet another unique and exciting outing. It was a SAVAGELY good start for the series. Episode one is an origin story done in great haste. We actually open with a post-hulk Jen. As she rehearses her closing statements for an upcoming case, she deals with a male colleague condescending her and mansplaining and generally being a.... dude. He's all chafed because she's good at things, which is going to be a recurring theme in this episode and presumably the show (and definitely many of the super salty boy reviews out there). As her friend mentions that she can always just "hulk out" to earn some points, Jen turns on a heel and kicks in the fourth wall, addressing the audience directly. She then guides us to a flashback of her getting her powers, which I won't dwell on too much, since it's the entire episode. Here's the rundown in possibly the dumbest, most confusing way I could do it:
Overall, this was an incredibly fun first episode. I certainly have some qualms, namely the reason by which Jen gets her powers seems a bit odd. Ultimately, the blood swap just felt very quick and rushed. It felt weirdly "we need to figure this blood thing out and oops we forgot to figure it out and the show launches tomorrow!" See, for those unaware, in the comics Jen gets Bruce-blood from a transfusion after being shot and nearly dying. Sure, Bruce being the only person able to give her a transfusion is a hard nut to crack, especially with Ruffalo's very "afraid to be the Hulk" type of Hulk. I like the "you got red on me" kind of angle, but I just feel like they didn't linger on it enough. She touches him ONCE and then gets enough radiation to Hulk. So, Bruce's blood can dose people with lethal radiation that quickly and easily, but in all the absolutely insane fights Bruce got in as Hulk with the Avengers, he never bled? Didn't Iron Man make him bleed when he used the Hulk buster armor? Like he hits him and hulk wipes blood away and is all: The chemistry between Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo is absolutely wonderful. The two do an amazing job working together and feeling like family, even when they are giant green computer monsters. The whole segment provides a lot of depth to Bruce that we were honestly missing, what with him being mostly a side character for much of the MCU. Here we see a Bruce that is a bit more boastful and arrogant, something that has been hinted on in other movies (like the wonderfully cringe selfie moment of Endgame). While I think they held back a bit from making him truly an arrogant butthead, it was a nice compliment to Maslany's Jen who also has her own flavor of arrogance, especially when she's showboating as she out-Hulks Bruce. Personally, I like the angle of She-Hulk being better at certain things than Bruce, I just feel as though the writers set up a slow pitch for the misogynists and silly salt bois to wail on. A female lawyer in a big city would absolutely have taken various fitness classes, self defense courses, done yoga, etc. etc. etc. So, Jen can balance better than Bruce, Jen can fight the Hulk successfully, during which the director did a fun job of showing Jen doing subtle self-defense moves. However, despite my acceptance of these issues, a lack of including them in the story either visually or through dialogue leaves room for the nastier males of the internet to sharpen their pitchforks and start off with all their "it's just not true" or "how unrealistic, chaps" kind of crap. It's sad that we live in this world, but I really need more writers to do better at helping us live in it.
To close out, let's address the giant elephant that an over-worked team of VFX artists were asked to edit into the room on a short deadline: Yes, Bruce and Jen are CGI for most of this. While I certainly don't agree with how Marvel treats their VFX people, and I hope they learn from the recent outcry, the VFX team did an incredible job making two large VFX characters feel natural and be able to hold the attention of a 30 minute episode. Are there uncanny moments? Sure, but that's the way CGI is. We want to pretend like we are, but we are NOT at a "CGI looks exactly like real people" place yet. CGI has improved exponentially over the years, but it is still very subjective. Some people get extremely uncanny valleyed, some don't. Not everyone is going to like how the Hulks look, but it shouldn't take away from the acting, direction, story and overall fun of the episode. I am very excited for this series. I have been for a while and the first episode really delivered for me. I think Marvel has found their stride with their shows lately, and it's honestly made it easier to be fan after a series of very disappointing cinematic showings. I hope She-Hulk is able to keep up this level of energy and humor throughout, because episode one sonic-clapped its way into my heart. She-Hulk airs on Disney Plus every Thursday. Look out for episode 2 on August 25th. But how did everyone in this show get so attractive?!...
From beautiful visuals, to incredible effects, to brilliant casting with dynamic portrayals, this is one of those adaptations we'll be talking about for a LONG time. Hey, HBOMax, if you need some advice... maybe you should be chatting up Netflix?
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Cover B PodcastChris & Tee host this weekly comic-focused show, providing insight on new comics, entertainment news and more. Archives
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