The following article contains spoilers for the first episode of She-Hulk.
The first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has arrived on Disney Plus, and it brought forward another unique origin story. Tatiana Maslany is receiving praise for her bubbly and charming portrayal of Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk, and she seems ready to embody the latest female superhero to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
One thing that the first episode of the series gets right though is the fact that Walters is different compared to her cousin Bruce Banner, as well as compared to other heroes. The reason behind this difference is the fact that she is a woman, which isn’t a comment on her physical strength or appearance, but rather highlights the struggles of women in the real world.
In the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, fans meet Walters as she prepares for a big court case. While breaking the fourth fall, Walters puts her journey on pause, so fans are able to learn of her origin story. The story is quite different from the one in the comics, but the important aspect that Walters highlights are how being a woman helps her remain calm in a situation where her cousin Bruce would have potentially Hulked out. It may seem like the series is delving into some stereotypes, but the opposite is actually true — it highlights issues that women have to face in their daily lives and at the workplace in the process.
When Walters first experiences becoming She-Hulk, she is quite overwhelmed, and fans assume that her monstrous instincts have taken over. She Hulks out again when approached by a few men at a bar, who are seen harassing as a woman standing alone late at night. “I think my boyfriend is here,” Walters says, a statement that many women have used in the real world to escape a harrowing situation. When the intoxicated men continue to harass her, Walters turns green and seemingly attacks them.
Having seen Hulk’s journey in the MCU, fans assume that Walters is going through a similar scenario, where she is unable to control her anger. However, when her cousin decides to run experiments on her in his hidden lab in Mexico, Walters proves that isn’t the case, and she is conscious every time she turns green. As surprising as it is for Bruce, Walters has an explanation ready for him and the fans: very simply, it is because she is a woman.
Bruce struggles with controlling his anger for the longest time, and another conscience takes over when he becomes Hulk. Walters, on the other hand, seems to be more in control from the get go. “I’m great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time,” she tells her cousin. While it may seem like an innocent remark, it kicks off the series’ social commentary, which is evidently about women and their struggles. Women are often asked to hold back or compromise their own feelings to ensure that those around them have the space to grow. This applies to both personal and professional scenarios. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law aims to raise awareness about these scenarios, and the lack of female liberation in some parts of the world in the 21st Century.
Walters, a fictional character, faces the same challenges that women do in the real world, having to deal with being “catcalled in the street” or when “incompetent men explain [her] own area of expertise” to her, referred to as mansplaining. She goes on to highlight that if women do otherwise, they are often referred to as “emotional or difficult,” another comment on the true state of the gender gap in society and at the workplace in many countries around the world.
An independent woman is often viewed as a threat in society and the professional world. Statistics show that women hold fewer positions of power, whether in the professional or political field, globally. Despite a focus on gender equality, more women are stay-at-home partners or parents as compared to men. Even in the more developed countries, the gender gap in the labor forces is still quite substantial, with many women leaving work after childbirth. That’s not all, as women in society have to face other challenges such as physical or emotional abuse, patriarchy, sexism, and not enough representation in many aspects of their daily lives. Bringing all these issues to light, Walters might not be wrong, because women truly seem great at controlling their anger and emotions.
The first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law tries to encapsulate all these issues in Walters’ monologue as she explains why she is different from Bruce. In addition to focusing on real problems, Walters’ remarks seem to be targeting the lack of female representation in the MCU. The first decade of the MCU was dominated by male heroes, with female heroes acting like sidekicks. It wasn’t until 2019’s Captain Marvel that a female superhero got a standalone film in the MCU. This was followed by Black Widow, which was Marvel’s way of salvaging the time they lost out on when developing Natasha Romanoff’s story. After being introduced in 2010’s Iron Man 2, it took the studio 11 years to dedicate a film to the hero who was an integral part of the Avengers, and sacrificed her life for the sake of the world in Avengers: Endgame.
While the MCU is focusing on diversity, and female heroes have received more space to shine in Phase 4, their representation is still lacking in many ways. Wanda Maximoff finally got a standalone show with WandaVision, but the studio immediately decided to turn her into a villain in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Female heroes are often seen as just sex symbols as well, which the studio seems to be correcting with its newer projects. It did seem to get it right with Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, introducing two new female heroes into the fold, but there is still a long way to go.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law not only brings a new female hero into the MCU, but it seems like it is on track to highlight the MCU’s flaws up until this point when it comes to dealing with female characters. Every Marvel series so far has highlighted a particular issue, with social commentary ongoing in the background. For instance, WandaVision focused on grief and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier highlighted racism. It seems like apart from focusing on the legal aspects, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's social commentary will be about women dealing with difficult scenarios in the real world, and female superheroes being given their due respect in the MCU.
She-Hulk is streaming on Disney Plus.