She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

More Shulkie goodness/mini-EPK:

 

So, nothing spectacularly new - one possible new character sighting at the end - and one small, oddly troubling detail.

Bruce and Jen appear to both be involved in this car crash, where she gets contaminated by Hulk's blood, rather than needing a transfusion.

...how does a regular old car crash that she walks away from make Bruce bleed, without him Hulking out?

 

Either it's a plot hole, or a Bruce hole - and someone's found something capable of punching one in the Hulk.

Which turns it from a car crash into the world's most ill-advised assassination attempt.

Edited July 27, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[biostem]

4 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

...how does a regular old car crash that she walks away from make Bruce bleed, without him Hulking out?

Does Bruce have to be "aware" in order to turn into the Hulk?  Like, if they were on a long drive and he fell asleep, then they got into the car crash, could Bruce have conceivably gotten cut before waking up and transforming?

[lemming]

28 minutes ago, biostem said:

Does Bruce have to be "aware" in order to turn into the Hulk?  Like, if they were on a long drive and he fell asleep, then they got into the car crash, could Bruce have conceivably gotten cut before waking up and transforming?

Was it the first Avengers film that he mentioned trying to kill himself while Bruce and transforming at that point?

Could be where non-transformed Bruce is injured and turns Hulk as a survival mechanism.   Jennifer has enough of the genetic markers to pick up hulking out.

 

Comic wise, my collection stopped in 1992, but even before then, there were a bunch of different iterations of how those powers worked.

[biostem]

2 minutes ago, lemming said:

Was it the first Avengers film that he mentioned trying to kill himself while Bruce and transforming at that point?

Could be where non-transformed Bruce is injured and turns Hulk as a survival mechanism. 

But he was aware of it.  Let's say someone he trusted gave him some sleeping pills without telling him.  Bruce falls asleep, and then that person tried to kill him.  That's what I'm wondering about...

Edited July 27, 2022 by biostem

[lemming]

56 minutes ago, biostem said:

But he was aware of it.  Let's say someone he trusted gave him some sleeping pills without telling him.  Bruce falls asleep, and then that person tried to kill him.  That's what I'm wondering about...

I think the sleeping pills would work on Bruce, but any harm to him would bring out the Hulk.  (Just a theory, things are very malleable in the comic book universes)

[biostem]

1 minute ago, lemming said:

I think the sleeping pills would work on Bruce, but any harm to him would bring out the Hulk.  (Just a theory, things are very malleable in the comic book universes)

My next thought, then, is if the car crash could have occurred after Bruce was sent back to Earth, after the Hulk was beaten by Thanos, when Hulk refused to come out.  Then, Bruce could be injured as a normal person.  *** shrugs ***

[Hyperstrike]

9 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Bruce and Jen appear to both be involved in this car crash, where she gets contaminated by Hulk's blood, rather than needing a transfusion.

...how does a regular old car crash that she walks away from make Bruce bleed, without him Hulking out?

 

 

Haven't seen a lot of REALLY nasty car accidents have you?

 

Also, it's possible that Bruce, hulkified or not, took the brunt of the accident on himself, saved her, THEN hulked out to save himself.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Seen a few, or at least the results. The car in the trailer is still in slightly better shape than the one in your picture (that'll buff out...)

 

The mystery part is how it's an unscathed Jen taking care of Bruce, and Bruce - faced with a potentially life threatening situation - is still... very much Bruce?

[Techwright]

7 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

The mystery part is how it's an unscathed Jen taking care of Bruce, and Bruce - faced with a potentially life threatening situation - is still... very much Bruce?

I'm guessing they're going to say it is a side effect of the merger of the Banner and Hulk halves, that his Banner form can be caught off-guard and injured now, whereas before the Hulk sees a suicide bullet and stops the attempt.  I do think the idea of a bit of blood contamination completely changing her sounds silly.  That said, it is canon in the first recognized Hulk movie that Stan Lee drank a beverage contaminated with Banner's blood and experienced a (presumably temporary) power surge, so maybe it entering Jen's bloodstream actually sets off a chain reaction, possibly due to family DNA.  Still is a weaker storytelling in my mind than a medical doctor returning to human form to willingly donate blood to his dying cousin.  That's much more powerful storytelling.

 

Contamination, though, is better than a suggestion we discussed previously, I believe, where fans suggest that Bruce's Infinity Stone "snap" had repercussions that triggered the creation of certain gamma-powered individuals, including She-Hulk.

 

 

[High_Beam]

I am optimistic.  I was so disappointed by Ms. Marvel so I would love this to not suck.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

New clip released ahead of next week's launch.

It's tiny, but I wish I hadn't watched this. (No, it's not bad, I think it's good, I just wish I hadn't known ahead of time).

Feels like a weird choice for a preview clip/EPK release.

 

So THE WHOLE THING is behind a spoiler. Also, if you don't want to know, stay off the Twitters or film sites until the show launch.

 

For those who want to see...

Spoiler

 

• Tatiana's always had that talent for morphing into someone else and mimicry, particularly the voices...
• ...so it's fun to see her copying - not perfectly, but close - Ruffalo's speech, accent, music and rhythms.
• And it's nice to see them just getting along like brother and sister.
• We seem to be getting to a question of "Did Steve Rogers... y'know.... did he f..."
• And then, well... I'm honestly slightly gutted they chose this one as a clip release. I'd have preferred to have had that hit fresh.
  Especially if it's going to turn out to be who I think it is.
• Roll on next Thursday. 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

I'm thinking at this point I may wait until Andor and Bad Batch season 2 drop on D+ and then see all three on a few months' subscription.  Other than saving a few bucks, it might give me a chance to learn whether audiences approved or hated She-Hulk.  

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

In the superhero justice system, the law is represented by two separate but equally important groups. The heroes, and the lawyers who deal with the collateral damage. Only one can be both. This is her story. (FX/GRAMS: DUN-DUN)

 

So, Episode 1. For balance purposes: this episode was watched both by myself (Marvel fan), and my partner H (Marvel-tolerant, but devotee of Every Damn Lawyer Show Going. Not just for work purposes.)

 

And now to the disclosure part of the case:

Spoiler

• Fourth wall SMASHING happens - including a bait-and-switch-and-switch-back from the very start of the episode. But not overused, and works in context...
• ...which feels very Ally McBeal/Boston Legal. H appreciates this.
• Mansplainy/whiny co-worker is probably evil betrayer unless he's a throwaway.
• The Sakaarian courier from the spoilery video above that sets this all off might just be a throwaway ("that's not important right now...")
• ...or might be a Chekhov's Starship for later in the series/Secret Wars.
• Bruce doesn't flip back immediately because he has a special anti-Hulk-flippy-gizmo. Because of course he does.
• Great chemistry between Ruffalo and Maslany. Because of that, I'm not worried about the CGI, I'm watching/listening to two actors playing it out.
• Bruce is very, very jealous - and slightly worried - that Jen just becomes... bigger Jen. There isn't "another hand on the wheel." Which means, being the logical creature he is... that Hulk was either always with him, or the reaction/break he had to that event.
• Potential Chekhov's Gun #2: Jen's reaction to Hulkification isn't just a different personality. She also has a better healing factor than Bruce: his Snapped arm repaired itself following contamination. Therefore Jen's blood is now a potential McGuffin.
• The training montage, ending up in a kids' brawl sequence, is an awful lot of fun - and, as with kids' brawls, finishes when they break something important.
• Needs more Ginger Gonzaga, but there should be more in the series.
• Similarly, Jamelia Jamil's Titania gets about 15 seconds of pouty screentime before one solid punch in the [censored... but ouch] settles her hash. I get the feeling that she's going to be a regular pain in the backside. Not just because fabulous, but because we don't know why she chose this particular courtroom on this particular day. She might have had beef with the Central Casting Eebil Property Magnate, or wanted to break him out. Either way, I doubt she'll take it lying down.
• I also have a feeling that Jen is going to have issues with who she becomes - but not because of the powers themselves. Think more high school "mouse to queen bee" comedy, where nerd become popular but at the expense of who she is and does she keep her true friends and blah blah blah...
  (Hint: that did not happen to me at school. Took getting the hell out and reinvention. The Change came at college. And yes, I wish there was video of my parent's reaction.)
• If we had a beef: the scene with the Sports Bar was badly telegraphed and obvious... if slightly satisfying for personal reasons. Would've cut that.
• BTW: there's quite a lot of solid laughs in this, but - and I really shouldn't be telling you this - do stick around for the tail gag after the main animated credits. They went there. And it is glorious. Iconic. SHE IS ALL OF US, AND SHE IS THE MOMENT. 
• Here, have this gif I made. Because I love you all. 
  

 

Our verdict: great Marvelly bits so far: lawyer show has potential too, but we haven't seen enough of it yet. Some of it's a tiny bit too obvious, but they're playing for a show anyone can pick up and watch and it works. Also, felt like two or three too many loose threads that needed to be picked up later in the series, or another show, and might just get casually tossed aside: and no central plot core yet. Very much the cautious pilot episode, which seems odd when you know you've got a full series order.

 

But so far, we very much like. 

 

EDIT: this just in - the end creds scene is 100% canon per Feige. And this guy.

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Mr. Vee]

Withholding judgement until the meat of the show, as most of the first ep was just trite. Ruffalo is just awful, hopefully that's all we'll see of him and his cgi too. 

[ShardWarrior]

I liked it.  There were a few bits of eye rolling dialogue that were a bit contrived, but overall an enjoyable first episode. 

[Hyperstrike]

Liked it.
Had a BIT of the problem with the rather violent Hulk jealousy.
But hell, they're two indestructible titans.
I'm, at last check, QUITE destructible (oh God, old self had NO EFFING CLUE!).  Oh yes.  OW!

And a lot of the "problems" are things that are problems when moving an entirely visual media like comic books to the screen.
And some of it is the ham-handed "social messaging".  You can tell that it included a lot more pig meat at one point.  But it's been consciously scaled back.

I rate the first ep an mid-range A (not plus, not minus).  Willing to allot it some more episodes to view.

[Hyperstrike]

Okay, I've been able to encapsulate my main problem with this episode.

When someone tries to equate the anger of watching your father murder your mother, and the severe physical trauma of being blown up, lasered, beaten, shot, stabbed, having your mind invaded on multiple instances, etc...

With an obnoxious co-worker or being cat-called.

And confusing low-level constant stress with massive, INFLICTED psychological wounds.

[Mr. Vee]

To be faaaiiiihhh, she wasn't claiming high levels of trauma, just showing that she's used to dealing with the anger she has in a healthy way. It was Bruce who expected her to have his extreme levels of anger without having had the extreme experiences.

[Mr. Vee]

Second ep was much better and more like what I was expecting. There's another mid-credits btw.

[ShardWarrior]

On 8/21/2022 at 8:26 AM, Mr. Vee said:

To be faaaiiiihhh, she wasn't claiming high levels of trauma, just showing that she's used to dealing with the anger she has in a healthy way. It was Bruce who expected her to have his extreme levels of anger without having had the extreme experiences.

 

That is how I understood it as well.  With that said, it was more eye-rolling/groan worthy than anything else in my opinion.  Despite how the right-wing media is trying to blow this out of proportion, this scene could use a few minor edits as it did feel a bit forced with the social messaging.  You can eliminate the "being cat called" line and replace "incompetent men" with "incompetent people" and the scene would have worked just the same. 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Shulkie ep2 and related stuff:

Spoiler

• Traditional "break and remake the hero" episode.
• OBJECTION!! A mistrial is not losing a case, it's just not winning it. Reset and do-over. Titania's intervention would have triggered the mistrial in any case, due to "serious misconduct" by an outside party. Jen could have gone to tribunal for that firing, and won both on terms and in the court of public opinion.
• Jen has an embarrassing family. This is normal. Slightly clumsily played.
• But much better as soon as her dad takes her aside. "At least you didn't destroy a city...?"
• ...and there's better gags with them in the concept art at the end of the show, and mid-cred.
• Tim Roth is a criminally underused criminal so far. More please. You even slightly begin to see his point, even if you'd be a fool to trust him worth a damn.
• Filing an OBJECTION! to that lame Lambs gag too. Wasted opportunity that would have been more fun with Roth.
• Bruce taking a (really) long distance call on his way back to Sakaar. Ruffalo had been hinting at a World War Hulk movie or series...?
• Cliffhanger of sorts is a crossover with Shang-Chi: the unauthorised day release is going to be a problem...
• GLK&H case notes:
  • They took the Abomination probation case pro-bono. Letting dangerous monsters out on the street seems an odd one.
  • ...even if Emil seems to have gained some other interests in life. At least seven of them.
  • Or do they have A Secret Agenda, a la Wolfram & Hart?
  • Our first passing look at Mallory Book (Renée Goldsberry, Hamilton etc). Cue dramatic chord...
  • ...but we haven't seen Southpaw (Holden's granddaughter Sasha). 
• In-jokes:
  • Keep an eye out for Jen's perky lock screen.
  • "I'm a whole other person. Literally."
  • Website headlines: "Man fights with steel claws in bar brawl", "Why there is a giant hand sticking out of the ocean", etc...
• Side note: Titania now has her own social accounts and being enjoyably petty.

 

The verdict: one or two failed gags and a minor plot hole aside, feels like it's settling into a groove, and a good one.

Edited August 25, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Trike]

I am loving it.

 

The show is funny, and that stinger for the first episode was legit hilarious.

 

Showrunner Jessica Gao is doing a masterful job integrating the comic book storyline with the existing MCU canon, a tricky line to walk that not many get right. (Looking at you, Falcon & Winter Soldier.) So far (two episodes), this seems based primarily on the Dan Slott run collected in She-Hulk: Single Green Female and She-Hulk: Superhuman Law from 2005ish. There are, however, some significant departures, so I can’t predict with certainty what’s going to happen next.

 

Tatiana Maslany is easily one of the greatest actors ever, a point solidified during her run on Orphan Black where she played multiple clones raised in different countries who had to interact with one another. That in itself was impressive, but when she had to play one clone impersonating another clone and she did it in such a way that you could see the first clone’s personality coming through the one she was pretending to be… I mean, I don’t know what alchemy that was, but it’s the most incredible acting I’ve ever seen.

 

That bit about Bruce on the spaceship makes me wonder if they’re setting up World War Hulk. Why else would he go back to Sakaar if not to meet his son, Skaar?

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

46 minutes ago, Trike said:

Why else would he go back to Sakaar if not to meet his son, Skaar?

We didn't see Hulk and Caiera in Ragnarok, unless he's just discovered he's an absentee dad from a one-night-stand.

 

For one possible bet, I'd have Hulk (and Korg!) head back to run the other half of Planet Hulk: an assault on the people of Sakaar by the Red King. Hulk comes back to the fight, deals with the King and hooks up with Caiera. 

For the other, this is a set-up for the Secret Invasion series. As the Skrulls are good (or at least some of them) in MCU continuity, some of the action might happen on Sakaar.

 

Side note with big reference to the series and a possible spoiler:

Spoiler

Official MCU Thunderbolts lineup just dropped: Winter Soldier, Baron Zemo (hey, disco!), Titania, Yelena, Abomination, USAgent, Taskmaster and Ghost.

 

This means Titania is going to prison and Blonsky is not getting out. While I still want to see something more like the classic Thunderbolts story, Roth should make a great lynchpin for this team, Jamil will bring the chaos, Zemo and Bucky will annoy the hell out of each other but be the most professional pair in the outfit, and Yelena brings both lethality and snark.

 

Good to see Ghost back - felt the role was hard done by in Ant Man and The Wasp. Same goes for Taskmaster in Black Widow, but not really sure what she adds here. It's a pretty safe bet that USAgent fills the Peacemaker assh*** role here.

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Trike]

19 minutes ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

We didn't see Hulk and Caiera in Ragnarok, unless he's just discovered he's an absentee dad from a one-night-stand.

 

For one possible bet, I'd have Hulk (and Korg!) head back to run the other half of Planet Hulk: an assault on the people of Sakaar by the Red King. Hulk comes back to the fight, deals with the King and hooks up with Caiera. 

For the other, this is a set-up for the Secret Invasion series. As the Skrulls are good (or at least some of them) in MCU continuity, some of the action might happen on Sakaar.

Either version of that story works. One night stand during the 2-3 years Hulk was there that we didn’t see or starting it from the beginning, both would be fine.

 

If I were given $200 million to make a Marvel movie, I would do a Savage Land flick because I love it, making the Macguffin a machine that has transplanted the Savage Land from another universe onto our Antarctica. So they have to shut down the machine to keep the universes safe, but the cost is that the entire place and all of its inhabitants will be stranded on the MCU Earth.

 

I would throw in every dinosaur-related character from the comics, like Stegron and Devil Dinosaur, so we basically get Jurassic Park with superheroes. The stinger would be Moon Girl and Matthew (Ka-Zar and Shanna’s son) playing around the machine and getting bawled out by Ka-Zar because it’s dangerous. Shanna would remind him that it no longer reaches into the multiverse so he can relax a little bit. They leave the room and the machine turns on, materializing a large figure who is wielding and axe. The camera spins around him, revealing that it’s Skaar, who angrily demands, “Where is my father? Where is the Hulk?!” 
 

That leads directly into the comic book storyline where Skaar in his rage accidentally releases the Designer, who starts taking over people, unleashing a modified version of World War Hulk. Grr, argh, smash.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, Episode 3, The People Vs Emil Blonsky:

Spoiler

• We're now well into the rhythm of the series, enough that the writers can move forward instead of world-building. Good.
• Feeling very Boston Legal now.
• Wong less happy facing lawyers than monsters. (Well, same difference.)
• Never Google yourself, and ABSOLUTELY never read the comments. (But giggling like a maniac at how certain Very Online folks are going to take this bit.)
• As expected, Jen's blood is clearly a main McGuffin: one of the assailants is listed as Thunderball, which I guess confirms The Wrecking Crew. Also the fact that they're frankly rubbish villains.
• Pug's catfishing "B plot" is 100% unnecessary to the action, but hella fun and very in-style for A Lawyer Show.
• Keep an eye out for more blink-and-you'll-miss-it Easter Eggs, one involving Wong's LinkedIn, and Emil getting what he wished for.
• And if you thought it was just gonna be Marvel cameos, well... shots fired?
• ...and another instant viral mid-credit. That one might divide the crowd, and it's teetering on the edge of cringe, but that last line sticks the landing for it.