Review - She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and with just a few days until the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I thought it would be neat to take a look at the most recent Disney+ original series from Marvel Studios: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, starring Tatiana Maslany, Josh Segarra, Ginger Gonzaga, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Jameela Jamil, with guest appearances by Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth, Benedict Wong, and Charlie Cox. 

          So, the series is a superhero legal comedy centered around Jennifer Walters, a Los Angeles based lawyer and cousin to Bruce Banner. One day, while driving together, the two end up in an accident and Bruce's blood gets mixed into Jennifer's bloodstream, which turns her into a new form of Hulk, later referred to by the media as She-Hulk. Bruce works with Jen to train her on the struggles of being a Hulk, but she proves herself to have more of a grasp of control of her transformations than he previously did. 

         Jen first publicly appears as She-Hulk when, during a courtroom trial, a superpowered social media influencer named Titania busts into the courtroom, and Jen Hulks out and puts her in her place, leading to her arrested. Jen loses her job as a public defender, but is picked up by the law firm Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, where she will head the newly formed superhuman law division, with her first case being the parole hearing of Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination. In spite of a conflict of interest in the case, due to Blonsky being a former adversary of her cousin, she takes the case regardless, and also gets help from the Sorcerer Supreme himself, Wong, to prove that Blonsky's prison escape was Wong's doing, and thus she is able to get Blonsky's parole approved, with numerous conditions, including having to wear an inhibitor, which will prevent transformations. 

         As the series goes on, Jen and the superhuman law division of GLK&H face several cases, including a case regarding a trademark dispute over Jen's use of the name She-Hulk, which was trademarked by Titania, as well as a case between a costumed crime fighter called Leap-Frog, and the suit builder who also worked on Jen's new wardrobe: Luke Jacobson. Jacobson is, ultimately, represented by Matt Murdock, and the case is given to Luke's favor as Leap-Frog fueled his boots with jet fuel. Oops. Matt and Jen later team-up to save Luke, who has been kidnapped by Leap-Frog, and after successfully saving Luke and putting Leap-Frog behind bars, well, let's just say that Matt and Jen head back to Jen's place for a little fun. 

          While all of this is going on, the series also reveals a mysterious anti She-Hulk movement on a website called Intelligencia. Now, ironically enough, while the series itself was going on, it got a lot of flak from anti-woke YouTubers who feel like their masculinity is "threatened" by this show merely existing, all the while we have similar comments within the show being made on Intelligencia against She-Hulk within the universe of the show. Now, while I personally don't echo any of those sentiments, I do find it hilarious how the show made a joke about such sentiments, almost knowing that such sentiments were coming well before the series premiered. 

        Anyway, Intelligencia hires several individuals to get a sample of Jen's blood, including the Wrecking Crew and a guy that plays into Jen's emotions. The leader of Intelligencia, Todd, plans to use Jen's blood to turn himself into a Hulk. And once he transforms, things go off the rails, as both Titania and Hulk show up, and Jen is utterly confused with how insane everything is turning out. 

        One of the things that I absolutely enjoyed about the series is Jen's frequent fourth-wall breaking. Now, for those who want to claim that Deadpool did it first, quick history lesson guys: She-Hulk was introduced in the comics, and broke the fourth wall in the comics, years before Deadpool was even an idea in the eye of Rob Liefeld. Now, while Deadpool got a live-action adaptation first, breaking the fourth wall in all of his films, She-Hulk originated the fourth-wall breaking thing for Marvel Comics. And She-Hulk's fourth-wall breaking was hysterical in this series, with the biggest, most hilarious fourth wall break happening in the final episode of the season. And here's how it goes: after asking if what's happening is working, the show cuts to the Marvel homepage on Disney+, only for Jen to bust through the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law icon, locate the Marvel Assembled icon, and bust through and arrive at the Disney Studio Lot. Entering the Marvel Studios office, Jen asks the show writers about what's going on, and they eventually lead her to confront Kevin. Now, while many, myself included, thought that this would mean seeing Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, what we see instead is an artificial intelligence called the K.E.V.I.N., which claims to oversee the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jen then suggests doing things not so formulaic, by not having Todd Hulk out, not having Blonsky as Abomination, not having Hulk show up out of nowhere, change the setting from night to day, and bring back Daredevil. After jokingly asking about when the X-Men will debut, Jen is sent back to the resolution of the show, with Todd and Blonsky both Being arrested, Matt reuniting with Jen, and all ending well, with Matt and Jen having barbecue with Jen's family, and Bruce showing up with his son, Skarr. Jen gets her job back, and Wong breaks Blonsky out again, offering him asylum in Kamar-Taj, ending the season. 

         Honestly, aside from the fourth wall breaking and cameos from other MCU heroes and villains, I honestly think that this series was decent enough. As much as I enjoyed the cameos, I honestly would have preferred if the series could stand on its own, very much like Moon Knight earlier this year, and of course Werewolf by Night last month. Continuing to rely on other MCU properties as almost a crutch kinda makes it seem less like trying to tie the show into the MCU and more like a lack of faith in the show standing on its own. Now, that being said, I still enjoyed this series, and everyone in it. 

          Tatiana Maslany was fantastic as Jen/She-Hulk, and I thoroughly enjoyed Jameela Jamil as Titania. Josh Segarra, Ginger Gonzaga, and Renee Elise Goldsberry we're all terrific as Jen's team in the superhuman law division of GLK&H. But again, it's the MCU cameos that were the most memorable parts of the series, from Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Tim Roth as Abomination, Benedict Wong as Wong, with my personal favorite being Charlie Cox as Daredevil. 

         Honestly though, as far as the Marvel Studios releases for 2022 go, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is pretty decent. Not perfect, but still entertaining for Marvel fans. I'm giving it a 4.05/5. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.