She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)

 

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Walters just wants to focus on her legal career and isn't really interested in becoming a superhero. But when your cousin is The Incredible Hulk, you don't always get a choice in these things.  In this case, accidental exposure to her cousin's blood leaves Jen with her own case of a burly, super-strong, green-skinned alter ego.

On the plus side, Jen doesn't have anywhere near the anger management issues of her cousin.  Life as a woman has taught her a lot about controlling her negative emotions.  So she figures she can just continue living her life as she has been.

That works about as well as you might expect.  A superpowered influencer named Titania attempts to trash Jen's courtroom in a big to escape her own trial. One 'Hulk out' moment later, the escape attempt is over; but so is Jen's case and her career as a public prosecutor.

Jen finds her only job offer is from the firm Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, which specialises in cases involving superhumans.  And they want 'the She-Hulk', not Jennifer Walters.  Oh, and her first case is to try and win parole for her cousin's former adversary, The Abomination.

Things can't get worse from here, right?  Well, unfortunately for Jen, this is the 21st Century, and there are always to tear down and humiliate powerful, successful women.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law blends elements of two different runs of Marvel's She-Hulk comic.  One is the series where she was a lawyer who happened to have super-powers.  The other is the series where she knew she was in a comic book and would often break the fourth wall to talk to the writer or the audience.  The show similarly has Jen pause the on-screen action to directly speak to the audience.

Acknowledging the audience can be a risky technique to employ.  It's not uncommon for people to find that it jars them out of their suspension of disbelief, for instance.  And some people find it reduces their emotional connection because the characters are acknowledging that it is 'fake'.  Still, there are plenty of cases where it has worked, often in comedies; which She-Hulk definitely is.

Directly addressing male privilege and toxic masculinity are also risky things to do; if you mock man-babies, they will react badly.  And indeed, they predictably lost their minds about this show and tried to review bomb it.  Thereby rather proving the show's point, if you ask me.

Overall, I thought there was a lot to like about She-Hulk.  Tatiana Maslany is predictable excellent in the lead role, demonstrating once more her exceptional range and adaptability.  She is ably supported by the rest of the cast, as well.

I also liked that the show makes clear that Jen wants to be accepted and respected for her purely human abilities, such as her intelligence and hard work, and not just for the super-powers that have been dumped into her lap.

There were a lot of complaints about the visual effects, particularly She-Hulk herself.  In my opinion, these are overstated, and probably at least in part stem from the above-mentioned man-baby review bombing: complaining about special effects rather than the "toxic masculinity is a problem" themes gives plausible deniability about why the review bombing is happening.

Do I have any complaints?  Just one, really.  The show's finale ties heavily into the 'breaking the fourth wall' aspect of the series, and it certainly went in a direction I did not expect. I can't say that I liked it very much, honestly, and I was not alone in this. I thought it was an unsatisfying way to resolve things.

On the other hand, I know some people really did like - it is definitely a controversial choice that has provoked a lot of interesting discussion - so you may really enjoy it.

Even though I didn't much care for the final episode, I enjoyed the show overall am I glad I watched it.  I would certainly give a second series a shot.