With the release of the newest teaser for the upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has just been given a little more verdant tones to work with. Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), who has become a gamma-irradiated superhero, will be the protagonist of the series. The show will focus on Jennifer as she attempts to balance the demands of her career as a lawyer with the recent developments in her personal life. The show will concentrate mostly on its comedy roots, very similarly to the comic series that she created in the 1980s and 1990s. As a consequence of this, it looks to be focusing very little attention on her barbaric origins, which will definitely be to the hero’s advantage in the long run.
When the character was initially shown in Stan Lee and John Buscema’s Savage She-Hulk (1980), the She-Hulk was not nearly as destructive as her cousin, the Incredible Hulk, at the time of the story’s publication. Having said that, despite the fact that she had more control than Bruce did, she still had episodes in which she was overcome by the enormous power that she had just just gained. As a direct consequence of this, she behaved in a somewhat more careless manner and had no qualms about wreaking havoc on innocent people’s property in the name of protecting others. Although this was necessary for the development of her character in the comics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be served much better by omitting this portion of her life for the vast majority of the series.
Many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have spent almost a decade with The Hulk, who evolved from a being of pure wrath into a hero and eventually became the ideal balance between Bruce and his more angry side. This narrative journey was successful in allowing the character to develop throughout the course of other films and provided a clear character arc. However, for Jennifer to develop in the same way as Bruce did would be a retelling of an origin narrative as well as one that has been presented before with Bruce. In theory, this wouldn’t give supporters anything new or exciting to hang on to, and it wouldn’t differentiate her all that much from her cousin.
To our relief, the series has decided to take a new turn and has put Jennifer in a position where she must strike a balance between being a hero who is empowered by her strength and being unable to find a balance between her personal life and her life as a hero. In addition, given that The Hulk is seen as a hero by the people of the globe, there are certain expectations that come along with her newly acquired abilities. Now that The Hulk is no longer feared, she is faced with the challenge of living up to or even exceeding the standards that her cousin has set.
This change in narrative direction would, on a more personal level, highlight the disparities between how she and Bruce have dealt with their anger and provide an important lesson in the control of anger. When Bruce was younger, losing control of his rage would lead to primitive freedom, which was an experience that was equally freeing and risky. However, people would see a new point of view with Jennifer since she is someone whose life has been altered by fear but who also has the choice to control and direct it rather than letting it dictate her life. In this regard, it would further differentiate both heroes and provide insight into the ways in which individuals can channel negative emotions, such as wrath or fear, into something positive for themselves and the world.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law may use the same color scheme as The Incredible Hulk, but the story it tells will be about a different woman who is on a journey in which her wrath does not define her. It will also allow viewers to relate to a new sort of hero and demonstrate the benefits and downsides of living the life of a superhero celebrity by basically skipping past her rageful background. This will allow viewers to relate to a new type of hero. But much more than that, it will demonstrate how different Jennifer is from her cousin, and how that difference will come to define her in the future, when she eventually takes the mantle and continues the tradition of the Hulk.
