In a show full of absolute bonkers stuff like a man dressed as a frog, non-legal sorcery, and twerking with THE Megan Thee Stallion, we never thought that “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law” could have pulled off its finale with its numerous subplots. Yet, here we are. And hell yes, they DID IT!
She-Hulk has been a unique experience within this world of the Avengers thus far due to its self-aware nature and meta-humour. Yet, it sticks to exactly what it set out to be, which is a legal comedy sitcom. Throwing
Basically, Madisynn King said it best. Show em’ Madisynn!
So, what exactly went on during that crazy finale? We’re here to break fourth walls and superhero tropes, and get it all laid out for you in one quick fix!
THE LEADER… PRONOUNCED
The show had been building up toward this moment ever since the third episode when the Wrecking Crew first attacked Jen in her Hulk form. It has been known that someone shady wanted the Hulk’s power, but who? A scandalous act and a crash landing on a TV screen later, we finally learn the identity of the man who calls himself the Hulk King. That man is Todd Phelps.
Apparently, he is the culmination of toxic Reddit cesspools that hate upon the lovely being that is She-Hulk, outing himself as the leader of Intelligencia which he also founded. He says that true power comes from those who earn them, whereby he opens up about his master plan that involved getting She-Hulk’s blood so that he could transform into a Hulk as well. According to him, that kind of power is truly earned, and not just inherited just because of a family tie.
EW, WHAT A HOT MESS…
As the tension increases, so do the characters. After searching for Emil Blonsky for some much-needed group therapy, Jen soon stumbles upon her cancellation convention where she learns that Abomination and Todd are in cohorts. Emil tries to convince her that his appearance as Abomination was merely inspirational but she soon turns her focus to Todd who begins monologuing about Jen’s uninspirational power heritage.
Soon, Todd injects himself with a synthesis of Jen’s blood and transforms into The Questionable Bulk.
But BOOM… Titania crashes in through a wall, followed by Bruce who crashes in through the ceiling. Both of these appearances have no build-up whatsoever. An increasingly frustrated She-Hulk questions these seemingly random story beats. Hulk fights Abomination. Titania throws down her fists with Todd. What is even-
*Disney+ Marvel screen*
META STUDIOS
It seems that the viewer has also turned off the show which then offends She-Hulk. She finds a weakness in the title card of her show and punches through before leaping through the ‘Assembled’ segment of Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings”.
Lo and behold, she has landed within the vicinity of the magic itself. Remember when we said it’ll go meta? Yeah, literally… She-Hulk lands in Marvel Studios, the studio behind the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. She immediately goes right up to the crew of her show who are having a brainstorming session and confronts them about the decisions being made. However, as corporate always does, it’s always a point of pushing things away when needed, where they let the man downstairs take the blame.
It’s funny that the real writers, Jessica Gao and Zeb Wells are literally in the scene but they are not doing the talking here. Rather, two other actors, who are credited as Writer Jessica and Writer Zeb are engaging in the conversation here. Indeed, that’s some next-level self-awareness right there!
L.O.R.D.Y.
Aite, okay. So, here’s the big one! Once Jen reaches the top-secret levels, she comes face to face with a H.A.L.-like robot known as K.E.V.I.N. which stands for Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus (dayum, we gettin’ more crazy acronyms now? What’s next? Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing?)
Of course, we know who this is based on as there is only one head honcho in the credits named ‘Kevin’, whose last name is Feige. Indeed, K.E.V.I.N., as it stands, possesses the most advanced entertainment algorithm which helps to produce, in his own words “near-perfect products”, which are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Amusingly, the bot takes a dig at the expensive CGI moments, asking She-Hulk to turn back into Jen Walters due to the expensive budget. Also, the visual effects team has already moved on to the next project which rhymes with ‘Amanda Whenever’.
At this point in time, Jen is both a stand-in for the viewers at home and long-time fans of the Marvel Universe who wants to know what the hell is going on. A discussion of Marvel tropes occurs whereby daddy issues pop up. And then she brings up the X-Men coz Lord Feige wouldn’t let anything slip from those lips.
But soon, the conversation returns to her show, and she states her case, saying that Marvel projects always tend to have a formulaic ending of explosions and a villain who gains the same powers as the hero. She then proposes changes to K.E.V.I.N.’s algorithm, citing that Todd shouldn’t get her powers as his personality itself is already villainous.
On the other hand, there was no need to include her cousin despite calculations that people might have wanted to see the fruits of his trip to space. Emil too, she says, does not need to transform into the Abomination and should be held accountable for his actions. K.E.V.I.N performs some calculations and obliges these changes.
Essentially, this entire moment in “She-Hulk” echoes the multiple moments when She-Hulk attempts to confront the editors writing her material. It’s absolutely bonkers that we get this sort of interaction in live-action whereby She-Hulk is able to access Disn- HAHA. We’re sorry, it’s just really great!
ABOLIMINATION
After Jen gets back into the canon of her show, she confronts two people that have wronged her. Todd gets arrested and Jen indicates her desire to sue him. Emil too is essentially tied and brought back into the Department of Damage Control’s Supermax prison.
While we believe this is the end for Todd, Emil is too big of a character to be shoved back into prison again. Therefore, Wong Wongerrrss comes in to rescue his friend, facilitating his escape guest stay at Kamar Taj – but not before being self-referential with a comment on prestige TV.
THE DEVIL IS IN
As for Walters’ love life, she gets the biggest deal as Matt-friggin’-Murdock appears out of nowhere just as she told K.E.V.I.N. earlier. He’s a little late to save the day, but that’s okay. Soon, he even appears at a family gathering of the Banners/Walters.
So, Jen and Murdock are officially a thing now. It’s a really big thing for her as she’s been craving that one win for some time. How many dates has it been? And that creepy guy who we thought was right for her ends up framing her… yeesh.
As for Murdock, he’s just visiting the west coast. So, it will only be a matter of time before we visit him back at his sanctum in New York. The next project in which he will be appearing is “Echo”, which spins off from “Hawkeye”. Indeed, this might see Murdock get back in the fold with that giant looming enemy of his, Wilson Fisk. Definitely, the gears will be turning from that point onwards.
He’s also talked about his beloved practice, Nelson and Murdock, which we’re waiting to return to once again. It’s high time that Foggy Nelson and Karen Page are reintroduced as partners of the Man Without Fear. Avocados at Law, here we go!
HULK SMASH
With Bruce Banner jetting off to Sakaar for most of the season, there’s sort of a jump in his story. He does show up eventually at a family gathering but there is a big, big surprise in the form of his son, Skaar. Wait, did he say ‘son’? Do you know what this means? It means HULK SMASHED!
So, what has Bruce actually been up to? Of course, some major parts of Hulk’s life have not been explored yet. We only got to see the part of him that had been held up on Sakaar until Thor broke him out during “Ragnarok”. Nevertheless, what happened during those 2 years? Well, for one. We know that HULK SMASHED! Sorry, Bruce that ain’t going away anytime soon.
The appearance of Skaar, however, lays the foundations for revisiting such a plotline and this would then harken back to the comic book roots of the character. You see, Skaar was borne when the HULK SMASHED on Sakaar. This heavily lends weight to the rumoured Planet Hulk/World War Hulk project which heavily features the gladiatorial planet and Hulk.
As we said, while Taika Waititi might have explored some aspects of the Planet Hulk storyline during “Ragnarok”, it was more or less an abridged version of events with only the ending to Hulk’s journey there being explored. If a Planet Hulk/ World War Hulk project happens, we could see Korg, Miek, and other members of the Warbound such as Elloe Kaifi and Hiroim, appear.
And yes, the big question is, what was Bruce’s love life in Sakaar like? And who was the lucky girl who got that smashin’ deal? Caeira perhaps? Hopefully, we get some updates soon from Kevin, or should we say, ‘Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus’.
SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK: VOL. 2?
By the end of the show, Jen Walters has embraced the fact that she is both the She-Hulk and a talented human lawyer. As she walks up the steps, the final shot of She-Hulk echoes the final artwork in the credits where Jen looks back while smiling. Indeed, we shall watch her career grow with great interest.
It is now canon in the finale as the crew were seen discussing ideas on Season 2. One of them even suggests that the entirety of Season 2 be an extended dream sequence. Of course, it hasn’t happened yet, but it does seem like the cast and crew would genuinely be happy to have another go at the self-referential character that is She-Hulk.
So, what exactly can we expect if Season 2 is greenlit? Well, for one, maybe they could up their budget and get the CGI for She-Hulk improved with K.E.V.I.N.’s approval.
Besides, they could always add in classic Hulk villains like Doc Samson or The Leader. In fact, it would be really crazy to bring back Liv Tyler as Betty. Like… have Hulk deal with having a son and his former girlfriend back.
Oh, and of course, bring back Madisynn with two ‘Ns’ and one ‘Y’! We don’t care if it’s just a cameo. At this point, she’s literally one of the most powerful characters in the MCU. We mean, girl literally walked out of a portal with a demon’s heart like it was nothing.
Can they pull off another K.E.V.I.N. trick again? As K.E.V.I.N. said, there was a bug on Disney+ through which She-Hulk tore, and that weakness was removed. So, we might not see the mind behind this formulaic algorithm again.
At this point, anything goes when it comes to She-Hulk. We definitely can expect more crazy things to happen in a follow-up with more Fleabag-like humour and 4th wall breaks. More obscure characters and outrageous lawsuits. Or you know, maybe just have her travel to the Multiverse or even ‘ruin’ other Disney+ features. Whaddaya know, when is that Mandalorian team-up coming?
Of course, with fourth-wall breaks, there is only one other person who can match the calibre of Jen Walters that is D to the E to the A and D- Pool. We certainly have our fingers crossed that we get to see Pool and She-Hulk interact one day. Gosh, we wonder how that’d turn out. Are they going to hit each other with title cards in the “Fox Mutants” section?
Right now, we’re just gonna leave here and twerk our body-a-da-ya-da-ya-da-ya-da…
“She-Hulk: Attorney At Law” is now streaming on Disney+.
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