The next project under Marvel Studios has finally arrived with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The Disney+ series sees the introduction of Jennifer Walters, aka the green title character, in the MCU. While many people may not be familiar with the character, that’s about to change quickly.
But aside from meeting Jen, what exactly will the show do for the MCU? Finally, the character seems to simply continue her career as a lawyer, with every superhero coming second. Many may feel that this isn’t the most interesting lineup when it comes to the character’s future and what she has to offer for Marvel Studios’ grand scheme.
Now, project director Kat Coiro has commented on how the first installment already sets forth future plot points in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The future that She-Hulk makes possible
Wonder
In an interview with Cinema Blend, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law director Kat Coiro commented on how the first episode of the series not only builds the rest of the show, but also lends itself to upcoming Marvel Studios projects.
While her quote is brief, she did confirm that the large spaceship briefly glimpsed in the opener is “Integrated into the narrative of our series, but it also lends itself to future projects.”
In a separate interview with Gizmodo, the show’s head writer Jessica Gao commented on why the show settled on the car crash and a large mysterious spaceship as the catalyst for Jennifer’s origins, rather than a mob hit that prompted her move into the comics was .
She revealed how “The bosses at Marvel specifically didn’t want it to be a mob hit.” and the “It just didn’t seem right and true [Bruce Banner]” that he willingly gives his cousin a blood transfusion, granting her the powers he has considered a curse for over a decade:
“Well, there are several factors. First, Marvel bosses specifically didn’t want it to be the mob hit…it just didn’t feel like it would go with anything. But to me, after seeing this Bruce Banner, this Hulk, all these years and all the different MCU movies, it just felt like we saw him really tortured by it. This wasn’t a gift. He really saw it as a curse. It forced him to have no relationships. He spent several years being really, really tormented by it and not seeing it as a good thing. And it’s taken him so long to get to a point where he can just accept it and learn to live with it. So it didn’t make sense to me that this guy would then voluntarily give that curse to someone he cares about. His cousin whom he really loves. It just didn’t seem right and true to the character and it didn’t make sense to me. So I didn’t want that.”
Goa continued, noting that she “I just needed to be able to start the origin story very quickly,” and that moving away from the mob hit had several benefits, including “[taking] a lot of pressure from the guild that Bruce would have caved in to [his p[powers] to Jennifer:”
“From a practical point of view, we just needed to be able to get into the origin story very quickly… I didn’t want to have to spend half an hour setting something up… When you make a mafia hit, it’s like, ‘Well, then why ? What happened?’ Let’s just get to the meat of it all. And also the way of making it an accident takes a lot of the pressure off of the guilt Bruce would feel if he gave that to Jennifer because on the show we really see her struggling with it and she too, like him, doesn’t really see it as a gift at first. So I think that would really change their dynamic if he took full responsibility and made the choice for them.”
Is She-Hulk instrumental in the future of the MCU?
While most of She-Hulk could end up being courtroom comedy, the arrival of the spaceship proves the writers have a goal in mind for where the character is going. This all makes even more sense when you consider all the rumors of a World War Hulk movie.
Additionally, Jennifer Walters has been a prominent member of the Avengers throughout comic history. While her focus is on the law right now, there’s no future timetable that doesn’t see her eventually ending up with the iconic group and becoming more involved in these global events. Yes, Avengers: Secret Wars would be one of those. It’s really just a matter of how she gets there, not if.
It’s hard to imagine that this great Sakaarian ship isn’t here for something really important. But what could it be? Well, chances are it’s about Bruce’s son Skaar – who has never been mentioned up to this point.
Bruce also seems quite terrified about her Hulk blood leaking into the world, which would be an easy plot point to revisit as the streaming show progresses. This sure seems like the perfect start to a full-scale Hulk event.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is available to watch now on Disney+.