The Importance of She-Hulk

She-Hulk was originally released in 1980, created by Stan Lee and artist John Buscema. She was Bruce Banner’s cousin, and a professional lawyer, Jennifer Walters. Her powers were gained by an emergency blood transfusion from Banner. With significantly less affected blood than her cousin, she retained intelligence and her own personality while in ‘hulk form’. This allowed her to continue her career as a lawyer, specializing in super-human law.

Her introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe began this year on August 18th, when the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was released on Disney Plus. Jennifer Walters, our She-Hulk, is portrayed by Tatiana Maslany, whose previous work includes Woman in Gold (2015) and Orphan Black (2013-2017), among many other films and television shows. The show has released three episodes so far, and is set to release nine episodes in total for the first season. They will continue to be released on Thursdays, unlike previous Marvel shows which were released on Wednesdays or Fridays.

The release of her show gives a window into something that the MCU has not previously pursued, a superhero with an actual job. Jennifer Walters works as a lawyer, who’s only desire is to continue working as a lawyer, which is immediately thwarted by her ability to transform into a hulk. Her portrayal is impactful because while she gains this power, her desire is to continue helping people through the law system, as a lawyer. Her law degree is the way she chooses to make a change in the world, as oppose to destroying everything in a futile attempt to stop an outside force. She is working to provide justice for individuals in her job as a lawyer. While the show is not entirely engineered for the viewers to take it seriously, due to the interjections from Jennifer herself, it is absolutely impactful because of the way she is choosing to handle her reception of super powers.