Warning: This article contains IMPORTANT spoilers for: She-Hulk: Lawyer.She-Hulk: Lawyer has completed its nine-episode run on Disney+. While there’s no word on whether this will be a miniseries or if it will continue into season two, the series certainly sent audiences on a journey they couldn’t have predicted. The series follows Jennifer Walters (played by Tatiana Maslany) as a young lawyer who accidentally gets her cousin Bruce Banner’s Hulk blood into her system, resulting in her transformation into her own Hulk, one the media calls and Jennifer later adopts She-Hulk.
Over the course of the nine episodes, Marvel Studios has crafted a story unlike anything else in the… MCU. It was most different in terms of tone and structure, acting more like a half-hour sitcom, while also being the most interconnected of the Disney+ superhero TV shows, featuring a wide variety of characters from across the franchise. This was probably a breath of fresh air for many viewers, both those who love the MCU and those who have been burned out by the franchise and pleasantly surprised to see something new.
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The latest episode of the She-Hulk season, “Whose Show Is This?” sees She-Hulk break through the fourth wall in the most extreme case, and eventually ends up in the offices of Marvel Studios to confront the writers of the series, as well as the creative mastermind behind it: a giant machine called KEVIN (a reference to Marvel Studios- President Kevin Feige who has shaped the MCU since its inception).
In the season finale, and throughout the series, She-Hulk: Lawyer describes many issues that some have had with the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the years. The writers happily play on the critiques by acknowledging them and woven them into the thematic thread of the series. She-Hulk: Lawyer gives fans all the big moments they want while also facing some criticism of the MCU and showing they can do better and here’s how.
The Fourth Wall Break sticks to the She-Hulk theme
The first episode of She-Hulk: Lawyer begins with Jennifer Walters speaking directly into the camera, and although she is revealed to be talking to her co-workers, this is an early sign of a fourth wall breaking. Marvel fans will know that long before Deadpool broke the fourth wall, She-Hulk was Marvel’s meta-character.
In the first episode, Jennifer assures the audience that this show is about her, and that it’s a lawyer show. But the joke at the beginning is that as much as she insists on it, the MCU’s superhero world continues to slam its door with appearances from Hulk, Daredevil, Abomination, and Wong, as well as the introduction of new characters such as Mr. Immortal, Leap Frog, and more. The joke is that no matter how much Jen assures the public, Marvel continues to get involved.
The payoff at the end sees Jennifer Walters finally assert herself on her story. She doesn’t end the series with a superhero fight like other MCU series, but instead with a closing plea as a lawyer for the legal TV show, she continues to assure the audience that she will. Throughout the series, everyone tells her who she is and how she can behave, and that is literally made by the inclusion of Marvel herself as a controlling factor. Here, She-Hulk asserts herself about her own story and writes it in a way that is emotionally satisfying for her character. Jennifer Walters’ Hulk persona isn’t building breaking, but as she said “breaking the fourth wall”.
She-Hulk stares through the flawed MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is without a doubt the largest and most successful multimedia franchise to date. They have many fans, but also many critics who have become more vocal about their issues with the MCU as the series has become more ubiquitous. They are often accused of being too formal, of shady relations with the military, of vague CGI pimples and Mickey Mouse shills, more interested in setting up the next story than their own, and they all end up with a big action climax, in other words with a breath of fresh air. beam or a big fight. Jen Walters literally spells it out in the episode by saying:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for its big spectacle and high stakes storylines, but it is often said that Marvel movies all end in the same way. Perhaps this is the result of following an unwritten rule that you have to throw in a lot of plot and flash and a thoroughbred that seems super suspiciously close to super soldier serum at the audience in the climax
This is a criticism that is especially true of many of the Disney+ MCU series such as WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldierand Moon Knight who rush to their climax and are at odds with the stories they tell. Many of the series also had a bad habit of saving the reveal of the real villain until the end, like Kingpin in hawkeye or He who abides at the end of Loki. She-Hulk: Lawyer acknowledges this and corrects it by showing a different ending that is more emotionally satisfying for Jen Walter’s character arc.
Marvel is willing to laugh at itself
The episode features many jokes at Marvel’s expense, even criticizing Marvel Studios making corporate films, which some say are made through executive committees by being literally created by an AI named after the president of Marvel Studios. They refer to the fact that their work is generally enjoyable by saying it is “nearly perfect”, with some being better than others, and leaving it to the internet to apparently decide what’s what.
They even have a good joke at the expense of Marvel, which the franchise has been lacking in terms of strong female superheroes and sexual chemistry. This willingness to accept his criticism hopefully shows that Marvel Studios is more willing to take creative risks and opportunities. Let’s also hope it means that Marvel Studios aren’t just joking about their VFX practices and poor working conditions, and are even willing to accept the criticism and be better for those who bring these stories to life.
She-Hulk is a series that is both critical and admirable for the MCU
Being a fan has changed a bit in recent years. In many ways, there are now two extreme camps: one side is made up of people who are so defensive of any criticism of something they love, while the other viewers are so hypercritical of everything a franchise does that you wonder why they still want to participate in something they apparently don’t enjoy anymore. This has been demonstrated in the massive online culture wars over franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trekand even Marvel.
Being a fan doesn’t mean blindly loving something no matter what, but it also doesn’t mean criticizing everything and using one’s own feelings as authority over it. A criticism does not mean hating the product, just as praise does not mean blind loyalty. There can be a balance, and She-Hulk: Lawyer thinks that’s perfect. It recognizes aspects of the MCU stories that need to be challenged, but also realizes the fun possibilities within this universe.
The creative team behind She-Hulk: Lawyer are people with an obvious love for the MCU that fans can feel in the inclusion of characters like Daredevil, but they are also people who have hopes and aspirations for the franchise to move forward and expand in more creative ways rather than stagnate. Any fan would want their franchise to be willing to participate in this, love the material, but also know where it needs to change. She-Hulk: Lawyer can be enjoyed by someone completely overtaken by the MCU, or someone who jumped years ago, or even someone who has never seen an item. It’s a series for everyone.