Jen Walters, Attorney at Law. Oh – and also a Hulk…

She-Hulk is funny. It’s surprisingly mature and, I think, it’s going to have a super Ally McBeal/Boston Legal vibe.

On the basis of this first episode Marvel have again decided to experiment with format and tone and it largely works.

Tatiana Maslany nails Jennifer Walters and her green self (careful about calling her an alter ego – she’s quite different from her cousin Bruce). I’d go as far as to say that Jen is almost luxuriating in who she is and it’s lovely to see.

The episode made me laugh several times and it is consciously constructed around a self-aware script that both breaks the fourth wall and knows the kind of tone it wants to achieve. All of this works really well.

There’s also a ton of really well placed observation about the world as Jennifer Walters experiences it – whether it’s the aggressive male attorney she’s paired with or the men at a ladies night who have no sense of how intimidating they are (oh, they know they have power but they have no understanding of what it really does only what it affords them the space to do).

There’s also some lovely banter between her and Bruce.

I do have one criticism and that’s how Bruce/Hulk continues to be portrayed. This isn’t specific to She-Hulk and is absolutely not a comment on how he measures up to Jen – in my mind that’s a ridiculous subject to even engage in. What irritates me is that once again Hulk is secondary to someone else. In Avengers: Endgame he doesn’t even get an arc; he just appears from off screen having done the character work out of sight.

Here we have more of the same. It’s infuriating to bench such an interesting character.

The show does the best it can with the situation and uses his literal isolation to its advantage and some of the most authentic dialogue is between Jen and Bruce when she calls him on the ‘choices’ he’s made. If that’s calling out the MCU’s overall treatment of Bruce Banner it’s a smart way of doing it.

Do I actually have any criticisms of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? No. No I don’t. It’s fun, smart and laugh out loud funny. I hope it doesn’t lose that sense halfway through and I also hope that Jen Walters remains the star of the show. The latter of those isn’t a real worry – MCU TV has been good at centring its protagonists even with other superheroes making cameos.

The MCU has been less successful in maintaining a tone throughout a series and following through on the promise their series have shown. However, the last (and best) two series have not only shot out of the gate with fantastic openers like this one, they’ve managed to stick the landing too.

One fact that didn’t surprise me at all – Jessica Gao, the creator and head writer has written for Rick and Morty; not just that, but she co-wrote the infamous Pickle Rick episode…so we’re in good hands.

Lastly, there’s a lot going on in the background – not least a bobblehead of RBG. Have fun spotting it all and see you for the next episode.

Rating? 8 micro-aggressions out of 10.

Stewart Hotston