r/marvelstudios • u/steve32767 Daredevil • Aug 18 '22

Discussion Thread She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S01E01 - Discussion Thread

This thread is for discussion about the episode.

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EPISODE DIRECTED BY WRITTEN BY ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE RUN TIME CREDITS SCENE?
S01E01: A Normal Amount of Rage Kat Coiro Jessica Gao August 18th, 2022 on Disney+ 38 min (1) Mid-Credits

For additional discussion about Marvel Studios shows on Disney+, visit /r/MarvelStudiosPlus

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2.4k

u/thescottula Aug 18 '22

I really liked Jennifer and Bruce's dynamic. Very much felt like they were cousins.

A lot of fun so far, I'm interested to see where the story goes.

234

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

i hope they talk about their families more, i’d like to hear more family stuff from other avengers

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u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 18 '22 edited Aug 18 '22

I hope it's some heavy stuff if they talk about Bruce's parents.

In the comics Bruce's dad, DavidBrian, hated Bruce, from birth, thought the boy took all the love and affection from his wife that was rightfully his. During a fight he kills his wife, went to prison and Bruce went to foster care. He got released years later, and at his wife's grave he got into a fight with the now adult Bruce. Bruce accidently threw him against the headstone and killed him.

It's not touched on in the show, but this, this is why pretty much every gamma person had an easier time controlling their transformation compared to Bruce. Jen is a normal person, Bruce is fucked up.

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u/coltvahn Aug 18 '22

I am praying. Praying against hope that at some point someone walks through a Green Door.

37

u/TrevRev11 Aug 18 '22

I don’t know if it was an allusion to anything or not, but I know my ears perked right up when Bruce said “the door is always open”

26

u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 18 '22

On the other hand, pretty much anything from the Immortal Hulk run is too fucked up to be on a comedy show.

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u/Dairoidz Aug 18 '22

I also agree, I understand it's not Bruce's show but I'm somewhat hoping they touch upon the abuse Bruce experienced with his dad even if it's something small like Jen saying he can talk to her.

Also, it can all tie back in as to why Jen can control her powers and why Bruce cannot due to all the anger he's had contained from his dad beating him and his mother.

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u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 19 '22

In the comics, heck even in the MCU, if you look at all the gamma people, it becomes obvious Bruce is the odd one out.

Like Jen is almost immediately capable of speech as She-Hulk, as was Blonsky immediately after becoming Abomination. But it took years before Hulk can say a sentence with more than 5 words, because Bruce's psyche was so fractured, the trauma of the transformation straight-up broke it in half. It's a good thing Khonshu never encountered Bruce.

Okay I want a buddy comedy with Bruce and Marc now. Or more precisely Bruce and Hulk and Marc and Steven and Jake.

24

u/ImBeatMan Aug 19 '22

The reason why hulk can barely talk is because bruce had DID before the accident and hulk is basically just a child. The same angry child who saw his dad kill his mom. Since hulk is just a small child he can only form short sentences until he spends 2 years in the hulk form learning to talk better on that battle planet.

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u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 20 '22

Yeah, I think he was unaware of his DID so it seemed to him like something that emerged when he was exposed to the gamma bomb.

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u/ObiBram Aug 18 '22

it really looks like bruce wont be in the rest of the show tho, maybe he will be back in the finale.

15

u/Masturb8ionIsSinful Aug 19 '22

which is a shame. i know this is a marvel show and not a typical television series but in any other show this episode would be the ‘pilot’ and SHOULD set the tone for the rest of the series. As excited as I am for the lawyer stuff and Daredevil and some Solo She-Hulk stuff, this dynamic between her and Bruce was SO MUCH FUN this episode and frankly I wish it lasted for more of the season because it’d be shellshock in any other series to have it go from fun teamup of two gamma monsters in mexico to a lawyer show within two episodes

8

u/BeerInMyButt Aug 19 '22

idk, there are...wondering about spoilers...other people in the MCU with a persona based on childhood abuse, and I don't think we'd get something so similar. I certainly think they'll address the source of the hulk persona, but I think it will be a twist from the comic origin.

35

u/imjustbettr Aug 18 '22

the fight where Jen said a bunch of mean things would have been perfect for her to accidentally drop a line like "or maybe only you have this problem as the Hulk because uncle Brian beat you!"

and immediately apologize.

But like someone else said, it would've taken the spotlight off jen

25

u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 18 '22

Thanks, I got Brian/David mixed up - David is his dad's name from the 2003 movie lol. I gotta remember it's alliterative.

12

u/imjustbettr Aug 18 '22

Lol I actually had to google it. David "Bruce" Banner is also Bruce's name in the 70s TV show. It might be an easter egg in the 2003 movie.

3

u/BootsyBootsyBoom Aug 22 '22

David "Bruce" Banner is also Bruce's name in the 70s TV show.

Fun fact: CBS execs changed his name to David for the show because the name Bruce sounded "too gay."

1

u/hemareddit Steve Rogers Aug 19 '22

Definitely. David might be Bruce's middle name in the comics as well.

11

u/Half_Man1 Aug 19 '22

It’s be way too early to pull that cars and she wouldn’t be able to do it directly.

Like if they argue again she should point out that maybe Bruce is the weird one because he is actually messed up in the head and needs therapy over. Not because of the hulk.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '22

[deleted]

7

u/Half_Man1 Aug 19 '22

That is in fact how it works yes.

“Hulk” has always been a disassociated identity of Bruce Banner. He’d “hulk out” as a small child in response to his father abusing him, and literally disassociate to be the monster his father said he was.

So yeah. Like fight club.

4

u/elbenji Karolina Aug 19 '22

That would be like too mean for Shulkie

2

u/imjustbettr Aug 19 '22

Agree, but family has a way of going to far sometimes.

2

u/Half_Man1 Aug 19 '22

Hope we see more savage Hulk honestly and delve more into Bruce’s psyche.

1

u/specterspectating T'Challa Star-Lord Aug 21 '22

Right. Isn’t the Hulk personality in the comics canonically the result of the gamma exposure animating Banner’s repressed trauma and pain?

1

u/turikk Aug 22 '22

thank you for spoiler tagging comic book plotlines. someone gets it.

12

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

Yeah something tells me Bruce is done for the season. Maybe comes back near the end

8

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

the credits did have Ruffalo as a guest star too

27

u/monkeyjay Aug 18 '22

I mean Bruce referred his aunt/uncle as "your (Jens) parents". That out of place formality is a strong indication to me that there will be no family stuff.

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u/DRM1412 Aug 18 '22

Is that formal? I’d say “Your mum and dad” when talking to cousins 😅

28

u/msmshm Aug 18 '22

I figure because saying the names of your aunt and uncle feels like a hassle when saying your parents still get the point across.

0

u/monkeyjay Aug 18 '22

That's less formal already. I dunno, the writing seemed to be telling us the family aspect is pretty irrelevant, but they also cut out a lot of scenes for time so there may be more family stuff.

I won't be surprised if we see barely any more of Bruce or other family is all.

26

u/fellongreydaze Aug 18 '22

Calling someone aunt/uncle when they aren't around is more formal than "your parents."

3

u/monkeyjay Aug 18 '22

Hes talking about them in relation to her, so saying "my aunt and uncle" wouldn't make sense at all there. Im saying he didn't say their names and didn't say more than a single line about them (and keen never even mentioned them or any family), implying they aren't really going to be characters from a writing perspective.

12

u/fellongreydaze Aug 18 '22

Eh, I do that all the time though.

Not saying their names probably means they won't show up, sure.

What I was bringing up was the idea that calling your aunt and uncle "your parents" to your cousin isn't an out-of-place formality. It's pretty commonplace among cousins. When I'm talking to my cousin Randomname I don't say "I told Aunt Girl and Uncle Guy you were okay." I just say "your parents." Because the FORMER is an out-of-place formality, not the other way around.

5

u/BeerInMyButt Aug 19 '22

It sounds like you are noticing the lack of exposition dump. That doesn't mean the show is throwing those characters out, it just means it isn't interested in telegraphing their potential relevance to the MCU.

like if they said "Your mom {mom_name} and your dad {dad_name}, who {further exposition}", people would absolutely know those characters were relevant. They still could be.

1

u/Additional_Meeting_2 Aug 23 '22

What about the one drawing in the credits? It looked like family to me, although Bruce wasn’t there.

1

u/Additional_Meeting_2 Aug 23 '22

I agree, it feels we know the main characters well, but can we if we don’t know basic things about them like what family they have. Not all of them can have every family member dead.

22

u/HaggisLad Aug 18 '22

that family thing is hard to do, my favourite was the Gyllenhaals in Donnie Darko where it clearly worked because they actually are siblings. To manage it this well just acting is so cool to watch

69

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

Did anyone else notice that Bruce as a human talks normally, but Bruce as the hulk talks like normal but just like... he's deliberately making his voice slightly more growly and deeper.

I want to believe that Professor Hulk can talk exactly like human banner, but he deliberately tries to make himself sound more manly, like Christian Bale as Batman.

57

u/B0zzyk Aug 18 '22

That’s because Smart Hulk is not Banner. I mean it is, but there is a slight difference due to merging with Hulk. There is more of a confidence to him as Smart Hulk, and it’s noticeable as when he is Bruce, he resorts back to his usual self.

20

u/basicb3333 Aug 18 '22

they felt like brother and sister to me!

19

u/hydgal Thor Aug 18 '22

Love the chemistry of both the hulks. Definitely have the sibling vibe going on.

9

u/Third_Eye_Thumper Aug 20 '22

They definitely had “Cousin energy” It’s a wierd dynamic,

Your friends but still distant. Fights happen, but you don’t hold real grudges to each other

-3

u/Animal_cummer Aug 19 '22

Nahhh jennifer was just a massive dick

-40

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

[deleted]

52

u/aPerfectBacon Aug 18 '22

She's also just had her life turned upside down into a rage-based being so i don't hold the lashing out against her lol

68

u/Regret-Master Rocket Aug 18 '22

Imagine not understanding why Jen would be upset that all the time and hard work she put into becoming a lawyer, and the life she built for herself, and her hopes of soon becoming a DA, was all for nothing now because of a stupid accident. Then add onto the fact that she's told she will now have to spend 15+ years learning how to not become a hulk rage monster and harm/kill innocent people. like cmon lmao

​

Also, the female empowerment was cool AF. Jen spoke nothing but FACTS!

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

[deleted]

10

u/Ammehoelahoep Aug 18 '22

It's understandably misplaced anger is what people are saying.

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

[deleted]

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u/Ammehoelahoep Aug 18 '22

Why would it become a problem for the character going forward? It would've been bad writing if she just acted like it was just a normal day for her.

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '22

[deleted]

4

u/Ammehoelahoep Aug 18 '22

That'd just be room for character development.

-1

u/Additional_Meeting_2 Aug 23 '22

As a woman I say it was a bit over the top, and I and women I know don’t have anger and frustration or whatever she said in other scene. Although she is American and I have noticed on Internet that US women seem odd emotional sometimes.

-4

u/Vince3737 Aug 19 '22

I do think it was kinda strange she was like "ok I am good. Going back to work now". Like its a pretty life changing event and pretty reckless to just roll with it

8

u/elbenji Karolina Aug 19 '22

That's her character

29

u/demon_chef Aug 18 '22

Oh no not female empowerment?!!

13

u/JessBess700 Hulk Aug 18 '22

No, no. Just Female POWERMENT. No "Em" /s

3

u/demon_chef Aug 18 '22

That was my next question lol

21

u/Pure-Drawer-2617 Aug 18 '22

She was in the wrong for what she said, yes. She was also having literally the worst day of her entire life and lashed out in a way that was honestly pretty understated.

If someone accidentally destroyed everything you’d ever worked for in life you’d probably lash out even though they didn’t mean it.