You can call this show many things, but one “label” is unfortunately correct, and that label would be “divisive”. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is, by far, the most divisive MCU show to date, with people on both sides of the spectrum screaming about this show either in support or disgust. Why disgust? I have seen many saying something like: “Oh, how far/deep has the MCU fallen.” Honestly, because it took me a minute to start this show, I was doubtful as the hate seemed to come from all directions. But I don’t tend to listen to other people, so when I finally caught up on this show, I was surprised by how much I loved it. That shows that no matter what you hear, you must make your own judgement and see it for yourself, and I am glad I did; otherwise, I would have missed the funniest MCU show to date.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is probably the most light-hearted, low-stakes MCU show we have gotten because it wants to be that. Well, at least regarding MCU. You literally have the main character (more about her soon) tell you in the first episode: “It’s true. I am a Hulk. And I’m guessing you won’t be able to focus on this fun lawyer show until you know all about that.” And at that moment, I realised what this show was. It’s a sitcom in MCU, but in the Internet age and given its ties to the MCU, people weren’t ready for this show to “just be that”. I have touched on this in my previous MCU reviews, but the MCU fanbase needs to get their shit together. During their “peak” (with just movies leading up to the Avengers: Endgame (2019)), the second biggest complaint I heard was that MCU couldn’t just make something on its own, that everything had to be linked somehow to the previous movies or setting up upcoming films. Why number two, by the way? Because the number one complaint was always about their action scenes (still something they need to work on). And all these MCU shows have tried to do just that, especially something like Moon Knight (2022, my review here); you can watch with almost no knowledge about any MCU films/shows and enjoy it. And virtually the same can be said about She-Hulk. Sure, you need to know a bit about Hulk, Avengers etc., but I can imagine even if you don’t know much, you would still be able to enjoy yourself because this show doesn’t rely on your extensive knowledge of the MCU. This show wants you to relax and have fun alongside Tatiana Maslany.
You can say many things about this phase (I believe we are about to end MCU’s phase 4) and how “uneven” the films, the shows, and the themes have been. But one thing the MCU still knows how to do is cast their leading roles. From Hailee Steinfeld in Hawkeye (2021, my review here) to Iman Vellani in Ms. Marvel (2022, my review here), and now Tatiana as She-Hulk. Side note, I know Hailee technically is not a lead in that series, but I consider her role to be as vital as Hawkeye himself, plus she will play an important part in the future. One stellar casting decision after another, and Tatiana is yet another jewel in this crown of casting decisions. She has the acting range to do both comedy and drama spectacularly, and she switches between those two lanes with ease. But the main reason I loved her as Jen Walters is the fun she was having as the character. Her attitude and positive thinking were infectious, and I can’t compliment her enough. Also, she breaks the fourth wall as much as Deadpool, maybe even more. And for her to do that so effortlessly, when not once it seemed off or not funny… that tells you all you need to know. She gave this character the correct amount of snark; every decision Tatiana made for her character worked. It worked so much that out of all the MCU shows, this one is the clear frontrunner for me as to “we need a second season as soon as possible”. I would also appreciate seeing more of She-Hulk in the MCU films.
If you are “on the Internets” at all, you must have heard about the now infamous scene featuring Tatiana and Megan Thee Stallion twerking. If you somehow missed this “controversy”, first of all, please teach me your ways and second, congratulations. Nevertheless, when I first became aware of that, I cringed as out of context; it looked weird and out of place. And here’s the operative phrase, “out of context”. I wasn’t watching the show by the time this episode was out, so I had no point of reference, and that scene seemed just bizarre. But after I caught up and watched that episode the moment this scene happened, I chuckled. Because that episode was funny, and this was just a funny, silly moment of a funny, silly show. It was just a post-credit scene that closed the episode where (believe it or not) Megan was in, so that scene was just “a tag”. Nothing more, nothing less. Marvel isn’t dead because Megan now exists in the MCU, and she dared to twerk with Tatiana, no. People need to take themselves less seriously and take what they get less seriously as well, especially if the show you are watching tells you this will be a silly lawyer show!
Unfortunately, as is the rule, in today’s day and age, many “fans” have review-bombed this show only after the first episode. And look, I get it, I… no, wait, I don’t actually get it. I never understood why people feel the need to rate/rank a show after the first episode. I don’t get why people (and, in this instance, some men) are so afraid of women leading shows. It was funny to me; that, in the end, the main storyline of this show was about a group of young men who hate She-Hulk and want to get her powers because they feel she doesn’t deserve them. And by funny, I mean ironic. It’s insane to me how some people will yell about these shows “being woke/political” and all that shit, and then they proceed to review-bomb a show after the very first episode, saying how “this isn’t MCU anymore”. Why? Because we don’t get to have fun? This show understands today’s culture and, unfortunately, proved it. You don’t get to complain about the show being “woke” and then proceed to do that very stuff this show is dealing with; this is just not how any of this works.
My only criticism of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the occasional over-reliance on other MCU characters. I won’t spoil any who appear in this show, and it was nice to see them, but I was enjoying Tatiana so much I thought sometimes, these “guest appearances” distract from her, a point, by the way, even the show acknowledges. My other, more serious point – I wanted more. I could have easily watched at least six to ten more episodes of just Jen struggling to live a normal life while being a superhero lawyer. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was the show we could easily have had more episodes without compromising the quality. Come to think of it; we could have even gone deeper; with the villain(s) and established them even more, but maybe that was on purpose, not giving them too much oxygen…? Be that as it may, I wanted more.
Overall, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a superb show with one excellent performance by Tatiana Maslany. She is having so much fun it’s almost impossible not to have a great time alongside her. The rest of the show portrays very well how it would look like; if somebody did gain superhero powers and didn’t want to be a superhero. Jen’s struggle to juggle her personal and private life, her comedy and her breaking of the fourth wall were all on point. I would strongly recommend this show if you can accept it on its terms. If you are fine with watching “just a comedy show” that also has something to say about today’s world, go ahead. Now, if you excuse me, I will be on the lookout for season two and need to watch more movies/shows with Tatiana in them.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke