With a whole bunch of superhero movies that are often linked on several levels, it is hard to keep up with the Marvel universe, especially while new productions are still ongoing.
Tatiana Maslany, who plays the lead in "She-Hulk: Attorney at law," knows the problem well, saying she was glad that Marvel producer Kevin Feige didn't probe her knowledge too much. "He, gratefully, didn't ask me to watch everything," Maslany told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) in London, laughing. "I think he realizes that it's an enormous universe. I know that there're people who've watched chronologically from the start to the finish. I've not gotten through everything yet," she added.
"She-Hulk: Attorney at law" is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on Aug. 18, the eighth Marvel Cinematic Universe series to date. The shows, as well as the 29 movies released so far, are all more or less intertwined, sharing common plot elements, characters or settings from Marvel Comics.
In the case of "She-Hulk," there are direct links to the "Hulk," "Avengers" and "Doctor Strange" films, and the series is basically set at the same time as the 2021 movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."
Maslany plays Jennifer Walters, a lawyer nicknamed Jen, whose cousin is no other than Bruce Banner, the Hulk from the Avengers films. In "She-Hulk," he's also played by Mark Ruffalo who already portrayed the green colossus in the movies.
When Jen and Bruce get into a car crash, some of the Hulk's blood accidentally makes it into her system – meaning she now inherits his superpowers and turns big and green herself.
But unlike her cousin, Jen is able to control her anger and keep a clear head when she transforms, something which women do every day in order to avoid being called "emotional" or "difficult" – or "just literally get murdered," she tells Bruce at one point.
Maslany says it was important to creator Jessica Gao that the series had "feminist undertones. At the same time it's not a show that tries to tell you how to feel about anything," the actress said. "And it's a comedy, too, so it does it in a way that doesn't necessarily feel prescriptive."
According to Maslany, "She-Hulk" could be considered feminist in the sense that "it feels more like you're on Jen's side, you're put in her shoes in so many ways. And you experience her life and her coping with this big massive change in her life in a way that is very personal to her."
Because Jen doesn't want to be a superhero, she continues working as a lawyer in Los Angeles. However, courtesy of one brief transformation during a court hearing, she suddenly finds herself in the limelight, now universally known as "She-Hulk," a moniker she despises from the get-go.
Maslany also has mixed feelings about the name, which epitomizes the problem Jen has with all of this, being "tagged on to the idea of being a Hulk."
"It's so reductive," the actress said about the moniker, laughing. "I have the same irritation with it, but also I love it."
After the first four episodes, it's not clear where "She-Hulk" is taking Jen in this first season, consisting of nine episodes in total.
In her first case as a lawyer in green, she is to represent Emil Blonsky, aka Abomination (Tim Roth), of all people, who once wanted to kill her cousin (in "The Incredible Hulk," back in 2008 when Edward Norton still played Bruce/Hulk).
As the name suggests, "She-Hulk: Attorney at law" doesn't take itself too seriously and is full of surprisingly funny jokes, guest appearances and sidebars on Marvel issues like: Do superheroines have health insurance? Did Captain America die a virgin? And how do you actually date as a She-Hulk? As in the comics, the main character breaks the fourth wall several times – perhaps a little too often – and addresses the audience directly. The subtle humor is funnier than the less subtle humor, but the mix is just right.
With the first "She-Hulk" comic book dating back to 1980, it's all the more gratifying that Gao has now succeeded in creating an adaptation that is both faithful to the original and a modern superhero tale – except for the sometimes botched animation of She-Hulk – that will also appeal to those who are not versed in the Marvel universe – though, as always, that helps.
By the way: For those of you who haven't watched "The Sopranos" yet, "She-Hulk" is full of spoilers, as one character is a massive fan.
