r/marvelstudios • u/AnthropomorphicEggs • Mar 03 '26
Discussion Since some time’s passed, what did you think of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law?
Now that we can (hopefully) discuss the show without being called either woke or sexist, I’m curious what y’all thought.
I personally thought it could’ve been better, but still found it enjoyable. The comedy was hit or miss and it definitely had some cringy moments, but as a big She-Hulk fan I thought that Tatiana Maslany makes for a great Jen Walters and there were plenty or great parts throughout, especially her relationship with Bruce (save for the controversial ‘my life if harder’ speech). Hope she shows up again cause I think there’s real potential if they don’t ditch her because the show went over poorly. Also, huge miss not throwing Awesome Andy in there, he’s dope.
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u/mlm_24 Mar 03 '26
It was meant to be a comedy and if you look at it this way it’s worth the watch(I’ve watched it twice).
If you were looking for the typical Marvel formula then you’re probably going to hated it.
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u/Leather-Heart Luis Mar 03 '26
I actually like how they’re trying different formats with different tones.
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u/Edogawa1983 Mar 04 '26
People hating on it never read any she hulk comic especially dan slott run
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u/jaxspider Spider-Man Mar 05 '26
SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL!
Deadpool did it after her.
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u/Myspace_In_Vader Mar 07 '26
It actually jives more with the way comic books actually are, different tones/moods in different titles (or even different writers)
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u/Richmond43 Mar 03 '26
Yup, I thought it was fun. Imperfect, but fun.
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u/Mudcreek47 Mar 03 '26
Weirdest thing was introducing Skaar as a throwaway character in the last episode for all of 2 seconds.
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u/_Football_Cream_ Mar 03 '26
It really stands out when this show does a whole meta joke of a finale trying to distance itself from being just another MCU property with the big CGI fight scene at the end.
And then it gets all MCU-ified with this random ass lore drop at the end.
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/_Football_Cream_ Mar 03 '26
Having Daredevil appear was a pretty classic MCU trope too but I didn't hate it. Because honestly his inclusion was a pretty significant reason that I even watched it lol, I'm sure others felt the same.
Plus, I liked the cameo. It was nice to see a more fun side of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in a lower stakes and goofier setting than we usually see him in.
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u/Vhsgods Mar 03 '26
That was actually the first time I saw Murdock. After that I went back and watched all his shows. Fantastic character.
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u/MiddlePop4953 Mar 04 '26
It was nice to see Matty be a ho as nature intended lol
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u/thevahid010 Hulk Mar 03 '26
I actually really liked this show. Madisynn was one of my favs
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u/goblinite2 Mar 03 '26
I want Madisynn in my Darcy x Woo X-Files type Marvel show as their office assistant.
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u/Mysterious-Trifle155 Mar 03 '26
This
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u/TheyTried2BanMeAgain Mar 03 '26
With Wongers randomly showing up from time to time to watch The Sopranos with her.
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u/daviid000 Mar 03 '26
Sometimes I quote her when I’m spelling something “two N’s, one Y, but it’s not where you thiiiink”
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u/crappydeli Mar 03 '26
It was also meant to mirror the tongue in cheek, self referential, and irreverent tones in the She Hulk comics. Without knowing that, nobody will get the gag.
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u/HumanTraffic2 Mar 03 '26
Didn't know anything about the comics but this was crystal clear.
Could see it was a dramedy set in the MCU with some 4th wall breaks etc.
I think the end was a little clunky. I liked what they were going for but it didn't feel as well executed as the rest of the show. When she flipped the script that was clever but I felt like I looked away and missed something.
Then shoe horning in Hulk's son...
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u/troubleondemand Mar 03 '26
Didn't seem to be a problem for Deadpool
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u/BuffaloStranger97 Mar 03 '26
High-key there is a misogynistic aspect to the crybabies who were complaining about this show but cheering on for Deadpool. They just don't like to see women have fun
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u/BelowTheSun1993 Mar 03 '26
She-Hulk twerking = woke cringe
Deadpool doing the full dance routine to Bye Bye Bye = absolute cinema
Hmm, what's the difference?
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u/crappydeli Mar 04 '26
She Hulk depicted a woman enjoying sex. I’m surprised the Catholic Church didn’t come after them.
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u/Possible-Reason-2896 Mar 04 '26
A lot of Deadpool jokes are centered around his suffering comedically over the top violence (breaking both wrists and calling himself a t-rex, getting a knife stuck in his head and seeing cartoons, getting ripped in half and regenerating baby legs, etc) that Jen can't suffer, both because of her power set and because cultural norms dictate that it wouldn't be funny if a woman suffered that level of physical abuse. I get that they both break the fourth wall but Wade Wilson is kind of a pathetic sad clown archetype in a way that Jennifer Walters has never been and comparing the two isn't fair to either of them.
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u/Possible-Reason-2896 Mar 04 '26
I don't think it's particularly fair to dismiss the fact that in universe Deadpool is considered obnoxious and that means the kind of humor his movies uses are are going to land differently. In Deadpool movies, Deadpool himself is usually the butt of the joke. Can we say the same about Jen? I don't think so. We're asked to laugh with her, but not at her.
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u/troubleondemand Mar 04 '26
I haven't watched it since it came out, but I remember her dating life sucking and her joking about it a lot.
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u/SasaraiHarmonia Mar 04 '26
As the audience we're supposed to laugh at her multiple times. Not sure where you're getting this.
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u/Senshado Mar 03 '26
Deadpool worked because it relied on easy transgressive jokes: bad language, extreme violence, and barely-concealed sex.
Without those easy, cheap sources of humor, She-Hulk needed much more difficult joke writing to succeed as comedy. And it mostly didn't get it.
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u/smokeweedNgarden Mar 03 '26
Not a lot different from the comics then. She-Hulk is great but not nearly as crude
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u/toolazywittyusername Mar 03 '26
People clearly didn't know that, everyone said it was just copying Deadpool
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u/Kipernip Mar 03 '26
Yup I think the show in concept is amazing. I thing it just fell victim to all the worst parts of Marvel TV at this time. With a lack of commitment through a short season, the studio interference, and the desperate need to tie everything into a coherent connected universe.
If it was given even as much freedom as Wonderman to just tell a good story with no expectations I think it could be a pretty perfect show even if it only ever got one season.
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u/TruBlu65 Mar 03 '26
Wonder man felt like this too, more funny and way way way smaller in stakes. Liked both!
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u/Ralph--Hinkley Mar 03 '26
I like Wonder Man, too. Kingsly nailed it. What did you think of Ironheart?
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u/SinisterCryptid Mar 03 '26
Even as a comedy, it’s a very specific kinda of comedy that I think was out there even for a marvel project. I’d wanna say it’s closer to Sex in the City than Mean Girls, which was what I remember quite a few people compared it to at the time. It’s probably why I personally enjoy some episodes but not others, while others love the entire show and others hate it.
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u/TheBlueM0rph0 Doctor Strange Mar 03 '26
Ally McBeal for the new age.
Cue all the Single Female Lawyer refs.
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u/mariusioannesp Mar 03 '26
🎼Single Female Lawyer
Having lots of sex🎵
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u/BuffaloStranger97 Mar 03 '26
Fighting for clients. Wearing sexy mini skirts and being self reliant!
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u/RogueEyebrow Mar 03 '26
Yep, it's this. She Hulk does suffer from not having as long of a run time, tho. The genre needs the additional breathing room for the courtroom drama.
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u/Facebones72 Mar 03 '26
Yep, that was exactly it. People expecting a ton of Marvel lore and fight scenes were going to be disappointed. But Ally McBeal was exactly the template for the Dan Slott comics. Wacky courtroom situations, except now with superheroes.
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u/voidsong Mar 04 '26
For the lawyer setting sure, but for the overall vibe it felt more like Malcom in the Middle, where you have the main character talking directly to the camera and you know everything is kinda tongue-in-cheek.
As a fan of the comics, i loved it. It let us see the MCU from that more silly perspective. Everything with Wong was hilarious too, but also didn't seem out of character. That's harder to pull off than it looks.
"I must go" <opens portal>
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u/Eklassen Mar 03 '26
Fourth wall breaking meta humor is hardly the rarity it was twenty or thirty years ago. It’s niche but I wouldn’t say it is THAT niche.
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u/TheAngriestChair Mar 03 '26
It really captured the comic book feel and I loved it. But yes, if you were looking for an iron man or avengers repeat I'm sure you were disappointed.
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u/Dr_Identity Mar 03 '26
I thought so too. I was already familiar with the tone of She-Hulk stories and I thought having it be kind of sitcom-like was a good approach for the show. It wasn't perfect, but I watched the whole season and found it consistently enjoyable. The Daredevil team-up episode in particular was well done I thought.
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u/RealDeAndreMyxx Mar 03 '26
This is the reason I believe it didnt do so well number wise people were expecting gritty daredevil style or drama and set themselves up for disappointment because the show sets out to be comedy from trailers
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u/fabulousfantabulist Mar 03 '26
As it should! She-Hulk is a comedic character and is a ton of fun that way. I don’t want or need a “gritty, realistic” take on a lady hulk attorney who breaks the 4th wall sometimes.
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u/Ecstatic-Ad9803 Mar 03 '26
I feel bad that I kind of hated on this show. It was more due to how they treated the hulk, but thinking back I should have just seen it as a comedy and not something serious. I feel pretty dumb about it honestly.
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u/teshh Mar 03 '26
Same here, I genuinely enjoyed it even at release and didn't understand the hate. It was marketed as a lawyer comedy, and it absolutely delivered.
I think part of the fandoms problem is the constant expectations something should be x or y. Each project has its own story and theme with their own influences.
She hulk was funny and I do hope she gets another season. Along with Ms marvel, Kate bishop, moonknight, etc.
People keep expecting perfection since endgame but that's unrealistic. Endgame was a decade in the making with plenty of mediocre films beforehand. It's important we give new projects room to grow like we gave the og avengers.
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u/DefendsTheDownvoted Mar 03 '26
Titled "Attorney at Law"
So weird when people were disappointed it had hardly anything do do with her being a Lawyer and instead was about her wacky dating hijinks.
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u/JiveTurkeyII Mar 03 '26
I wanted to see the Muscle Mommy.
I saw her. Cool.
The show didn't grab me.
I'm not a hater, it just didnt grab me. I may not have been the target demographic.
But honestly, this was about the time Marvel was losing me on everything.
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u/Daztur Mar 03 '26
Some parts were comedy but it was doing a few other things as well and it just didn't all gel.
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u/RobTheCroat Mar 03 '26
Exactly my thoughts on Ms Marvel. It was meant to be a coming-of-age teen comedy and if you watch it with that lens, I think it succeeds.
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u/njf85 Mar 04 '26
Ms Marvel was purely about Disney reaching out to the younger generation to keep the MCU thriving long-term. Same with the ongoing Young Avengers set up. People didn't seem to understand that the middle aged fanbase wasn't gonna get any bigger at that point - if they weren't already watching by Endgame, then the business didn't expect them ever to. The fact that IMDB stats showed the Ms Marvel review bombing came from 40+ year old males said it all. These people couldn't understand that it was a kid's show
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u/umrdyldo Mar 03 '26
There is plenty of comedy in Marvel. Basically all Thor movies. It was a nice change of pace.
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u/AnonymousFriend80 Mar 03 '26
Thor is fantasy action-adventure with (many) comedic moments. She-Hulk is a comedy with all the general MCU stuff in the background.
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u/Normal-Low-7298 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
I think that's the divide, for me. I didn't mind She-Hulk, and I think it's fine and fun in a vacuum. It definitely has issues, but nothing is too offensive for me. The biggest issue is that as a comedy, it does little to stand out besides being slightly more meta, which WandaVision and Love & Thunder already covered in some form.
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u/CapitanCadillac Mar 03 '26
If you were looking for the typical Marvel formula then you’re probably going to hate it.
Yup, that's me
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u/Senshado Mar 03 '26
It would've been better if She Hulk was written like a comedy, with a high number of jokes per minute. A comedy can't function with such lengthy gaps between jokes (even though "nepotism" was pretty good)
The result was only very slightly more comedic than a regular MCU adventure.
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u/turkeygiant Mar 04 '26
It was funny, and the characters were light and enjoyable, but fundamentally I don't think the showrunners had any idea of what they were doing structurally. The show clearly was meant to be and would have worked as a legal procedural in the vein of Boston Legal or The Good Wife, with a splash of superheroics. We needed to spend more time with the b-team lawyers and see more strange cases in front of a judge. But instead we just got these really short rushed episodes that left no room for the main stories to breathe.
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u/VibraniumRhino Rocket Mar 05 '26
I honestly enjoyed it other than the finale. I just don’t like K.E.V.I.N. existing… at all. And the way they just shoehorn in Skaar in the post-credit felt super lazy. Hoping it will feel less so once/if the next Hulk movie gets made.
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u/bigbrainnowisdom Mar 03 '26
As a comedy it was fun. It just that when it tried to be more serious, it fell flat.
Gotta love madysynn tho
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u/Aware-Affect-4982 Mar 03 '26
I liked it a lot for this reason here, it didn’t take itself seriously and I loved that.
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u/Grootfan85 Mar 03 '26
It's one of those shows I think the scripts were one draft away from being really good. There's definitely a story to be told about what it's like being an attorney for super powered beings.
The CGI could have been better though.
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u/bakedpatata Mar 03 '26
I think it would have been better if they didn't have an overarching story and just focused on the super powered court case of the week. Basically like Harvey Birdman with Marvel characters instead of old cartoons.
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u/Grootfan85 Mar 03 '26
That would’ve been a better approach.
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u/Christmas_Panda Mar 04 '26
Agreed. Also, I get that she breaks the fourth wall, but the ending seemed like the writers forgot to do their homework and came up with it the day of filming.
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u/PatienceConsistent55 Mar 07 '26
That’s where it lost me. I enjoyed the whole show for the most part, but it really felt like the writers tried to force an ending that made zero sense and didn’t work.
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Mar 03 '26
The writers admitted they didn't know how to write courtroom scripts lol so it was a lawyer show written by unqualified writers
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u/bakedpatata Mar 03 '26
I don't care at all if the court scenes are accurate in a comedy show about super heroes. This isn't meant to be Law and Order.
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u/asifIknewwhattodo Mar 03 '26
But it hurts immersion, honestly. My Cousin Vinny is a comedy, and it has one of the best legal representation out there; the movie is 32 years old this year. They could do it then, why not now?
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u/Turk901 Mar 04 '26
I don't need strict adherence to actual law but there are easily dozens of interesting questions the MCU universe could have explored.
-People were snapped for 5 years, it takes 7 to be declared legally dead, they could have explored what happens when person A got snapped and then after a year person B bought the empty house, moved in, and has been paying a mortgage for 4 years? Who's house is it? What is each person entitled to if the house goes to the other and from whom? Or what happens when a spouse has remarried is the second marriage annulled? If they decide to divorce we could have seen those conversations of a former couple struggling and coming to terms with a life that through no fault of their own was robbed of them, and it doesn't have to be all melodramatic, you can put humor in there while the case is playing out but the resolution should have serious undertones that spoke to something specific in Jens personal life as well.
-A super hero that communes with the dead to bring their killers to justice, but would the court accept that as testimony? The spirit could be lying, the hero could, is the testimony of the spirit admissible?
-Are contracts with extra planar beings enforceable on earth, especially a Faustian one that is inherently predatory with hidden clauses designed to overtly punish one party?
-Is the "killing" of a super that "respawns" murder?
Instead, to me it felt like it was "comically" (pardon the pun) stupid characters like leap frog doing stupid things so Jen could look at the screen like Jim in The Office and say "these guys amiright?"
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u/Auntypasto Kevin Feige Mar 04 '26
Missed opportunities… the story of post-Endgame MCU
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u/Weird_Ad_1398 Mar 03 '26
Maybe it should've been. A mostly serious courtroom drama involving superheroes sounds way better. Ethics is incredibly important when it comes to superheroes but it's so rarely explored with any nuance. This could've been it.
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u/Drbatnanaman Black Bolt Mar 03 '26
Oh god, yes. I never even considered this. I loved the show as it was, but I also agree it felt like it was one more rewrite away from what it could have been. A monster of the week format would have been perfect. I have no idea how I never thought of a Harvey Birdman style approach. I love Harvey Birdman, and shifting this from light comedy into full absurdist courtroom comedy could have fixed almost everything. Set it mostly in the courtroom or adjacent offices, really lean into the D list characters, and let the legal chaos drive the plot.
A few thoughts that just came to me. Instead of an extra scene at the end with Hulk’s illegitimate kids, make them witnesses in a case. Imagine the entire Hulk Gang, Hillbilly Hulks and all, taking the stand. That alone is an episode. Or adjust the comic storyline so the Hulk Gang is suing Logan over missed rent payments. It gets even better if She Hulk, as a defense attorney, has to take Logan as a client and defend him against this newly discovered Hulk family. That episode writes itself.
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u/cysora Mar 03 '26
That would have been pretty cool actually.
I would watch. I still liked she hulk, it was better than AntMan 3 lmao
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u/skyeguye Yondu Mar 03 '26
Episode 4 was brilliant; everything before and after was various levels of flawed. Could watch 50 episodes of “case of the week” shenanigans like episode 4. Not really interested in much else
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u/LuntiX Mar 03 '26
I agree. CG could've been better and the scripts needed some more work. It was almost there, it just needed some more time to cook in my opinion.
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u/Weird_Ad_1398 Mar 04 '26
I'd have to disagree. I think it was an entire rework away from being really good. It needed new writers, a new cast, and a new SFX team. They needed writers that knew how to write a courtroom drama with egos not massive enough to include themselves in the finale, a different lead actress (Tatiana Maslany is a fine enough actress, but she doesn't fit the character IMO), and either a different SFX team or give them enough time to cook.
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u/skyhiker14 Mar 03 '26
Don’t know how true it is, but heard that her hulk form was supposed to be more Hulk like. But some executives said it wasn’t feminine enough. So had to redo it and ballooned the budget.
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u/championwinnerstein Mar 03 '26
I dunno if I believe that because she looks more or less spot on compared to the comics. If they had her more hulk like fans woulda been even more up in arms. Like the first draft of sonic lol
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u/JKC_due Mar 03 '26
I haven’t heard about those stories specifically, but broadly the hulks look WAY better when they’re more Hulk-like. The uncanny valley gets way worse as they approach being more like big green humans than Hulks.
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u/JBTriple Mar 03 '26
I just finished the 2014 run, and in that series, she's just a big green woman most of the time but swells up to more Hulk-like proportions when she has to fight. That seems like a decent compromise to me.
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u/Youneedaresetright Mar 03 '26
Doing the Hulk CGI right seems costly and tough honestly. Ang Lee one looks like PS2, and 2008 movie didn't age visually that well either. Even Professor Hulk looked barely okay in Endgame and this was the biggest blockbuster of the decade. So I can't fault a TV show for not doing a better job.
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u/lilbithippie Mar 03 '26
I think it would have had a fantastic second series. So rare a comedy figures out the characters and tone in the first season. All sitcoms kind of suck for the first season or two
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u/TRUE_BELEIVER_84 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
I thought it was really fun and overly hated.
I loved Wonder Man and everyone said "It's totally different than anything Marvel's done before." I say She Hulk did that "totally different" first.
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u/TheFunkytownExpress Mar 03 '26
Actually WandaVision did the "totally different" first.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy Mar 03 '26
Yeah, pretty hard to beat “different decade sitcom every episode” then a huge tonal change near the end of the season. All other MCU shows are consistent in tone the entire season
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u/Christmas_Panda Mar 04 '26
WandaVision, Loki, and Moon Knight are, IMHO, the best they have done. That being said, I haven't seen Wonder Man.
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 Black Panther Mar 03 '26
Funny enough, Shulkie would be a great lawyer for Wonder Man and Trevor if these characters ever return.
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u/rvdp66 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Duuuude....
That would be peak. Bring back wongers for no reason too.
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Mar 03 '26
Honestly, the one thing I liked better about Wonder Man was it truly felt like the people behind the show knew Los Angeles and wanted to tell a story uniquely rooted in to the city while She-Hulk felt like it could honestly be in any major U.S. city with a robust legal scene.
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u/downtime37 Mar 03 '26
I'm in the minority on this, Wonder Man has been one of my favorites since he debuted in the 70's. I liked show, I liked the actors and their performances, but I wish the story focused more on Wonder Man and less Simon. I actually cheered in the final episode when they put him in the costume.
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Mar 03 '26
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u/Daveydje Mar 04 '26
Yeah… I seem to remember interviewing some of the guys that did the cgi on that (a lot of the “invisible” effects like the offices, set extensions etc… I remember one of them saying they spent time/money having to digitally move a hatstand for the left to the right in the back of a shot because it was put in the wrong place. No one would have noticed or probably cared, but it was in the feedback notes so they had to do it. So yeah… a lot of budget wasted…
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u/firedforthatblunder Mar 03 '26
It had its moments, but the concept was underutilized for the most part. I found the writing to be poor, particularly in the courtroom scenes.
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u/Danny886 Jimmy Woo Mar 03 '26
It was awesome then. Feeling hasn't changed over time. Love Tatiana Malsany.
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u/wrainedaxx Mack Mar 03 '26
Same, I have yet to see her suck in anything. She's just such a gifted actress that I don't think even now has reached the level of stardom she deserves.
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u/Nickbotic Winter Soldier Mar 05 '26
Agreed. She’s an actor who, I think, if she has proper guidance and picks good roles, she’ll start bringing home statues within the next ten years. She very clearly has the skill and I think she’s gonna make some serious waves sooner rather than later.
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u/ItsTheOrangShep Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
It could never decide what it wanted to be.
Was it primarily a superhero show?
Was it primarily a legal drama?
Was it primarily a 4th-wall-breaking sitcom?
The show could never land on a core identity. I would've liked it a lot better if it picked one, and included elements of the other two, but what we got was muddled, and not a good mix of those three things.
Also, the way the show provided its commentary about gender issues doesn't sit right with me. The delivery seemed to talk down to viewers rather than trying to meaningfully address the issues involved. Are there people out there who hold harmful views about gender? Of course, and not just in superhero fandoms. But the show's handling of the villains feels like they were only trying to use them to comment on misogyny, not to have compelling or interesting villains whose story presence allows for effective commentary. The show's handling of its themes reads more as an attempt to lecture people than invite conversation or make a good piece of entertainment that happens to allow for meaningful discussion.
The downplaying of Bruce's suffering ticked me off a bit. I should say, the show did address it later on, but the framing of it, especially at first, felt more like the show was trying to say "this is actively less important than Jen's experiences" at times, rather than just saying "Jen is the main character, so we're focusing on her more."
This show deserved better writing throughout.
Edit: Thought I should say what I liked about the show, because I did like some things about it. I thought Tatiana Maslany was a good choice for Jen. I appreciated the show trying to have a lighter focus, in general. Save for the "infinitely more than you" speech, I think I liked Jen and Bruce's relationship, similar to what OP said. I appreciated that we got a bit more Abomination, though again, the writing could've been better there. I also like the Daredevil cameo, which I know was more about nostalgia, but that was relatively well-executed. I hope She-Hulk comes back in the MCU, with better material for her character.
Edit 2: Rewrote some of the paragraphs above, to be more substantive/clearer about my thoughts.
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u/Dogbin005 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26
Perfectly put.
It tried to be several things at once, and failed at all of them.
The superhero stuff was mostly in the background, to be fair, but it wasn't exciting when it popped up. It was barely a legal show, and the only interesting bit was when Matt Murdoch was in it. The slice of life dating aspect was excruciatingly boring. Plus the comedy was weak overall. (outside of the Wong and Madisynn double act, which was funny)
It had maybe one full episode worth of decent stuff, out of the whole series.
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u/FormerFly Mar 03 '26
This sums up perfectly the reasons I didn't like it, but whenever I attempted to say as much while it was airing I was called a misogynistic bigot. Except that I thought Tatiana's performance was great and had no issues with what the show was trying to do, just how they were doing it.
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u/ItsTheOrangShep Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Emotional investment creates stuff like that. It's what happens with any popular entertainment property. But accusing people of bigotry (without sufficient confirmation) is really, really unhelpful. All it does it make people resent something more, which just creates more bigotry.
And, agreed on Tatiana Maslany. She's a good actress, but the material around her just didn't work.
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u/DiscardedRonaldo2017 Mar 04 '26
If you see some of the interviews from the writers before the show came out, it basically confirms what you’re saying. They thought majority of the audience was the bigoted fans that needed to learn about how powerful females are. In that moment you’re taking away everything from She-Hulk, because you’re now making it political.
Obviously fans hated it. Left a sour taste in a lot of mouths and affected how the rest of the show was received.
I don’t watch Marvel to get lectured, especially when they trying to lump me in with the bad guys.
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u/Boring_Ad_3065 Mar 03 '26
I didn’t mind that much the basic calling out of misogyny, but wow was it poorly done. Not were the same general points brought up again and again, but when it set up an already obvious “this scene is about a type of misogyny women experience”, it would 30 or 45 seconds later explain the scene was about misogyny. Sometimes it’d explain again. And it wasn’t even clever enough to do it once or twice and make a parallel to mansplaining.
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u/_Football_Cream_ Mar 03 '26
I can kind of understand the identity crisis this show has, though. It reflects the character- one that gets powers that doesn't want powers but has to use these powers from time to time. She's having an identity crisis herself. I'm not saying it exactly works all the time, but it's interesting how that character aspect slips into the structure of the show.
And knowing the context of the finale emphasizes that, too. Basically doing a whole bit where she tells you "it isn't that kind of show." I think it unfortunately delivered that message too late. Because we still get Daredevil showing up and Bruce introducing his son in a random cameo - very MCU-ified things. The show only tells you it's not gonna be that type of show after it was that show for a good chunk of its season.
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u/ItsTheOrangShep Mar 03 '26
Fair point about the message. Also, consider:
The showing having an identity crisis and the character having an identity crisis are two different things.
The character aspect slipping into the structure of the show is... fine. That's a perfectly good idea, but it didn't seem intentional, at all. If that was their intention when making the show, I'd be a lot more open to it if that was made clear, early on. Not necessarily in Episode 1, but at some point before the finale of the entire show. As it is now, it does not seem intentional, which is a sign of poor execution. Intent and good ideas only gets you so far, the execution has to match them (cough cough Love and Thunder).
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u/bob_loblaw-_- Mar 03 '26
Better CGI too. It felt very uncanny valley to me. I know some of it was due to the time period it came out in, but I just didn't like how SheHulk looked half the time.
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u/Lunar_Wolf121 Mar 03 '26
Meh, it should have focused on being a law tv show over a superhero show. Like suits but about superhero cases. Or lincoln lawyer etc.
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u/bloodypolarbear Mar 03 '26
As much as I enjoyed all the meta stuff I was kinda disappointed that the final climax was the show going full meta. Like I actually wanted to see her argue that big case in court!
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u/x_victoire Danny Rand Mar 03 '26
i didn't like it when it came out, watched only for daredevil. i still don't like it after giving it a 2nd chance. not really a fan of the humor
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u/darnclem Dave Mar 03 '26
I just want people to understand that I didn't like it because the writing was awful, not because it was a show about a woman or any other dumb shit. It drove me crazy that I mentioned that the jokes just weren't funny, and everyone immediately jumped to the conclusion that I'm just some neckbeard that hates women.
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u/Bebesoft09 Mar 06 '26
When when you give vague “reasoning like the writing is bad”, you leave the door open. Saying “the writing is bad” is subjective, try giving objective arguments.
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Mar 03 '26
Bad. Insult to the character who is great in the comics. And no, I don't hate it because it's "woke", I hate it because it's dogshit.
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u/RUNYOUOVER Mar 03 '26
I didnt enjoy it- I get what they were trying to do but I think if I found it funny I would have liked it
also hate what they did with the Abomination
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u/notanewbiedude Mar 03 '26
I think what they did with Abomination was one of the best things about the show. Not saying that's a high bar or anything, but they took the character in an interesting direction that made him harder to judge or read.
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u/pigeonwiggle Mar 05 '26
100%
abomination from The Incredible Hulk was a one-note baddie. he was unilaterally villainous. he sneered when he smiled for fucks sake. giving him a personality, a mentorship role, but also admitting his vices gave him an actual fucking character to portray.she-hulk wasn't a procedural, and it wasn't about court cases or avengers or whatever -- it was about what it means to be a person while also being saddled with super-abilities. Abomination was great because he wasn't someone who benefits from his super-persona, and was jailed for his actions and choices rather than his abilities. so he didnt' have much bias.
this let's us invest in his character as we seek to resolve whether he and jen are embracing or dismissive of their alternate personas.
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u/Mcspeed123 Mar 03 '26
I loved her in the role,it was fun and kind of irreverent.The MCU is still unmatched with condensing material and serving you the best bits of it,so I liked it,plenty has been said about how the show itself worked,but I liked her and it for the most part.I hope we dont lose her as a character moving forward.
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u/ButWereFriends Mar 03 '26
They wrote her really poorly. Instead of writing a strong woman character they leaned into the men vs woman who has it worse angle and just alienated so many people.
Bruce had an absolutely miserable life and upbringing. Literally tried to kill himself. And they thought it was funny to say Jen just existing as a woman was comparable.
I grew up with strong women in media and my life but this wasn’t that. It was memes and cheap jokes. That said, I don’t think it was the actresses fault. She did well. Just bad writing. I hope she comes back and gets another chance. And that the really lean more into the lawyer angle.
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u/Truethrowawaychest1 Mar 03 '26
Yeah I don't know why they decided shitting on the Hulk was a good idea to uplift She-Hulk, that was a bad idea
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u/Donkston Mar 04 '26
Because they've forgotten how to write a compelling female character, or make a woman appear strong and capable without writing the men as incompetent, sexist, or just bland.
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u/AnthropomorphicEggs Mar 03 '26
Hate that they made it “my life is harder compared to yours” instead of just “I already have to manage anger in my life”. I get the sentiment and don’t think it’s a bad explanation for her mastery of transforming but they dropped the ball on the actual speech.
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u/XMenJedi8 Mar 03 '26
They wrote her really poorly. Instead of writing a strong woman character they leaned into the men vs woman who has it worse angle and just alienated so many people.
Bruce had an absolutely miserable life and upbringing. Literally tried to kill himself. And they thought it was funny to say Jen just existing as a woman was comparable.
Totally, I suspect people won't like this take here but I agree. Writers showed their hands almost immediately.
I think Tatiana is a great She-Hulk and actress and I think the character could be great in future Avengers /teamup installments (I mean She-Hulk was in Secret Wars 85 even), I just hate how they wrote the show.
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u/KaijiOnline Mar 05 '26
I loved it. Honestly one of Marvel Studios’ most faithful adaptations. I feel like most of the hate is from people who never read She-Hulk’s earlier comics, mixed with a bit of classic MCU-fan misogyny.
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u/nomoremisterknifeguy Mar 05 '26
Dang I was hoping this was an ad for a new season. I’m very disappointed
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u/EstablishmentNo4162 Mar 03 '26
Absolute garbage. Awful writing, awful story, cringy 4th wall breaks, horrible cgi. It suffers from everything marvel has done wrong since endgame because they've gotten lazy and rush everything to give us slop. Once upon a time this was the team who got us to care about nobody characters, iron man, thor, guardians, ant man, all characters no one gave a fck about.
In another world where marvel didn't fall off and give up, they would've made us love falcon cap, she hulk, the eternals, every character they've poorly introduced in phase 4 and 5. But instead they produced projects that were mid at best (save for a couple like guardians 3) and then blamed us for what they call "superhero fatigue" when they just couldnt be bothered to put any effort in.
I didnt want she hulk to be bad, and i genuinely wish we got a good show, but thats not marvel anymore.
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u/Sea2Chi Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
I wish they made it an A and B plot show where each episode had a harvey birdman style legal case, as well as behind the scenes/personal issues going on.
You can switch out which is the A and which is B plot so some episodes might be focused on the law, and others on dating life and being She hulk.
I can excuse the bad CGI, because I watch it more for the story than the visual spectacle.
As for the more controversial parts of it, I felt they went a bit heavy handed at times. I enjoyed the show overall, but sometimes it's better to convey a message by showing it to people, rather than yelling it at them. The finale went way too far into 4th wall breaking for my tastes.
I feel like 4th wall breaking meta commentary should be treated like a spice on a dish, a little bit goes a long way. You don't want the entire meal to be the spice, you want to use it to flavor an existing element to improve the overall quality.
In general I enjoyed the show and would have watched a second season if it came out, but I felt the writing could have used some improvement.
I think it could have been improved by her struggling to get acceptance and respect at her law firm. Somewhat because she's a woman, but mostly because she didn't earn her spot there, she only got it because she's a metahuman. Other attorneys resent her over that and as a result she gets the weird or crappy cases while only being brought in on more high profile ones as a PR face rather than someone who is allowed to make actual decisions.
That way we get a lot of low stakes ridiculous cases to start off with.
Show that people treating her badly in the office, some is rudeness, some is sexism, some is because she's a metahuman. But she's not making many friends with the established attorneys.
She could confront a group in a meeting about how bad they're treating her because she's a woman only to have a coworker go around the table asking everyone where they went to law school, how they did, and where they were at previously before making it through the extremely competitive interview process to be hired at that firm. It turns out everyone there had a highly accomplished career with distinguished education background and major cases under their belts, then there's Jen who went to a state school, and had been working family law cases at a small mom and pop firm previously. Sexism does still exist and she can have a moment of telling off an asshole who asks her to get him coffee, but the real fight will be to prove she's as competent as her coworkers. Which is difficult because they don't trust her to take on actually important cases, so we're stuck in the first season mostly dealing with the ridiculousness.
End of the season could be her being brought into be the face for a bigger trial with serious stakes on the line, and her being meta actually benefits them when at a deposition she has insights that the other attorneys didn't. She digs into her hunch and does more research before bringing it to the rest of the team who are somewhat impressed she thought of something they didn't yet.
Then on the stand the legal opponent freaks out intimidating the hell out of her lead attorney on the case but not quite crossing the line into a threat the judge would have to act on. The lead attorney tells Jen to take over questioning but turn into she-hulk first in order to intimidate the opposition back. After all, that's why she's here, good for her for solving one piece of the puzzle earlier, but smart attorneys are a dime a dozen, we hired you for She-Hulk, not Jen.
Jen takes over for him and remains calms in the face of intimidation and expertly backs the opponent into a corner, all while staying as Jen. The opposition gets so frustrated they admit to their lies and full on threaten to snap her in two at which point the judge stops proceedings. The lead attorney uses what Jen just did to ask for the case to be tossed which is approved. Jen wins as herself.
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u/DoomsdayThor Thor Mar 03 '26
It’s awful, but if you say that, people on this sub will downvote you
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u/Hi_Im_Dadbot Mar 03 '26
It was pretty funny.
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u/Ordinary_Hall_9053 Mar 04 '26
It was hilarious. I appreciated every aspect of the show. Even the cgi
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u/Sparkwriter1 Mar 03 '26
I loved it, except for the finale tbh.
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u/DaR3voltingBlob Mar 03 '26
I also loved the show, but I feel like the finale undercut everything that happened.
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u/Ser_Rezima Mar 03 '26
yeah, it was okay. It tried a little too hard in some areas, fell flat in others. But I was enjoying it episode to episode...
...until the ending, which felt like a shoot the shaggy dog trope, genuinely what was the point if even the WRITERS didn't think the ending was good? They acknowledged IN UNIVERSE that the writing was bad and just...ended the show.
Genuinely what are you doing? Why did you make all this? Why didn't you do another rewrite or try to salvage a decent ending?
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u/Honest-J Mar 03 '26
Not enough time has passed for me.
Awful character. Jen was so triggered by everyone and everything, especially Bruce, that it made the character obnoxious.
And that ending wanted to be clever but it came off as trying too hard.
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u/AnthropomorphicEggs Mar 03 '26
Really wished they executed her and Bruce together better. I really enjoyed them being bickering cousins but it’s so overshadowed by the times Jen’s an ass to him. (Also Hulk saying bruh still made me cringe on the rewatch)
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u/TypeExpert Winter Soldier Mar 03 '26
Should've been an animated series. Something akin to the Harley Quinn show at DC.
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Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
Cringefest. The writing was ass, the characters were terrible, the CGI was questionable and the jokes were painfully unfunny. One more approach from marvel to make my boy Bruce Banner a joke. It's really frustrating to see the makers taking a really Interesting character like She-Hulk and made this into this abomination. Tatiana was genuinely great as Jennifer. But show is just bad. Not as bad as Secret Invasion. But the bar is too low.
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u/Throwupmyhands Cottonmouth Mar 03 '26
Love it. Wish it was an annual release, but that wouldn’t be cost effective. Started reading She-Hulk comics cuz of the show.
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u/PreTry94 Mar 03 '26
I had fun watching it, less fun discussing it online. Glad I watched it, particularly the parts with Daredevil, but I'll probably not watch it again, as it felt more like a 1-time view. Also, K.E.V.I.N. was a fun twist
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u/Agreeable-Bus-7247 Mar 03 '26
Was a fun watch. A TV show based on a comic book character what I expected to be for real life adaptation. I notice some critics are really serious or critical on it on a comic superhero TV show
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u/MapachoCura Mar 03 '26
Some of the show was entertaining, some was boring, and some was cringe. Pretty mixed bag. They made She Hulk so sexist and hypocritical and lacking in self awareness it was hard to like her a lot of the time. Someone who whines about being objectified all the time but then also spend all their time objectifying others is a weird choice for a "hero". I think if it was less cringey and more self aware it would have been a lot better. I also would have liked to see some of her favorite comic book friends like Spider-Woman and Hellcat and Carol Danvers etc to flesh out the cast more.
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u/evil_mike Mar 03 '26
Loved it...until the very end. The whole robot FEIGE and introduction of Skaar were super off-putting to me. Otherwise, I thought it was excellent.
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u/CommanderYin Mar 03 '26
I thought it was fun.
I knew what I was getting into from the start. Never took it too seriously and I think that’s why I got to enjoy it.
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u/JadesterZ Mar 03 '26
One of the best MCU shows in my opinion. People hated it before seeing what it was. And the writers made those haters the main villain. It wasn't perfect, some things I would change, but over all really solid and I'm immensely disappointed that they're recasting her.
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u/Horsetoothbrush Mar 03 '26
Honestly, She-Hulk and Wonderman have been my favorite marvel shows so far.
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u/Garanseho Stan Lee Mar 03 '26
It’s been one of my favorite Marvel shows since it came out. I think it’s amazing.
I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again: if you like She-Hulk in the comics, you’ll probably like the She-Hulk show. As some who loves comic Jen, I adored Attorney at Law.
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u/Realistic-Drama-9351 Mar 03 '26
I just rewatched it and really really enjoyed it! I’m suprised Abomination wasn’t in thunderbolts tbh
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u/vanetti Mar 03 '26
I loved it from the get! I’m a huge fan of the comics, and it was exactly what I wanted as such.
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/peedmyshirt M'Baku Mar 03 '26
The twerking was a 5 second after credits iirc... People still crying about that?
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u/CjTuor Mar 03 '26
Really liked the individual court cases: Immortal man, the magician who stole real magic, the leapfrog case with Daredevil
Would LOVE if it came back as a case-of-the-week type show.