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Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

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She Hulk: episode one review

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Marvel Studios & Chuck Zlotnick
(L-R): Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer “Jen” Walters, Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki Ramos, and Drew Matthews as Dennis Bukowski in Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, exclusively on Disney+.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s first episode, “A Normal Amount of Rage,” came out on Aug. 18 and kicks off the more obscure character’s journey within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

We learn in this fast-paced pilot just how Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Hulk, or Bruce Banner in his lesser green form, has become a not-so-jolly green giant herself.

After an almost too coincidental accident, finds Bruce’s blood transfusing with Jennifer’s blood and we spend the episode discovering what makes the lawyer tick, yet not turn green.

It’s revealed she can control her transformations on a whim while retaining her personality, unlike her cousin.

Delving into the responsibility of super heroism, we are also hand-delivered several on-the-nose anti-male and feminist messages that seem to be the basis of the show’s overall theme.

Jennifer, energetically played by Tatiana Maslany, offers a more action-packed role to the star, known for her work in series Orphan Black and Parks and Rec.

Other names include Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki Ramos, the charming friend and coworker of Jennifer’s, and actress Jameela Jamil who plays series’ villain, Titania.

Previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) actors include Mark Ruffalo who returns as the big green meanie himself, with surprise returns including Tim Roth’s Abomination and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil who has yet to be seen.

In the first minutes of the pilot, we witness the brilliance and capability Jennifer has as an attorney, yet rejection she faces because she is a woman.

“This is gonna land better coming from me,” is the first line spoken by the first male character presented, which comes in response to Jennifer’s opening statement pitch.

It’s explicit anti-male moments like these, as well as the occasional cheap joke, that plague the show’s potential and leave its targeted audience up for debate.

The show’s trailers appear to tackle more adult topics including the previously discussed political side of super heroism and even online dating.

However, they push for the chance anyone might laugh at the outdated joke of an airhorn being used to wake someone up and possibly hurt themselves.

The MCU has been in a strange state of underwhelming limbo, or as many call it: “mid.”

The over-saturation of projects leaves viewers with little anticipation as every other big screen feature comes with several small screen ones to keep viewers at bay until the next movie.

That isn’t to say “Marvel’s Phase 4” hasn’t delivered some gems, with Shang-Chi’s theatrical debut and Moon Knight’s intro series being solid entries, its abundance of silver undermines the occasional gold.

She-Hulk has interesting subjects to address with exciting new and even old, forgotten characters to introduce and hopefully push the MCU down a brighter path.

Its upcoming episodes have yet to be released but here’s to hoping they show improvement as the series progresses.

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About the Contributor
Gabriel Villegas, Staff Writer
Gabe Villegas is a staff writer for Talon Marks covering the Community, Opinion, Arts and Entertainment. Gabe enjoys screenwriting, drawing/animation, and reading novels and scripts in his free time. His goal is to become a professional screenwriter/filmmaker in Hollywood and earn a SAG card.
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She Hulk: episode one review