I’ve seen a lot of comments online lately about She-Hulk, notably that it’s “horrible” and “one of the worst shows” out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. Again, these are comments that I’ve seen online by fans of the MCU. But, you know what? Much like how people detested Eternals, even though it’s now my favorite Marvel movie, She-Hulk is now my favorite show out of the MCU, by far.
Honestly, it was pretty annoying seeing memes of She-Hulk and Megan Thee Stallion dropping it like it’s hot as a reason as to why She-Hulk was “awful,” but the glorious thing about the show was that it totally bought into the fact that trolls online were going to complain about stuff like that. Hell, they even showed that very same scene REPEATEDLY in the recaps, almost as a way of trolling the trolls. That’s just one of the reasons why I loved the show so much. Here are five more!
Oh, and spoilers up ahead.
It Stayed Consistently Good Throughout And Actually Stuck The Landing With The Finale
You know, one thing I really don’t like about the Marvel TV shows is that, for the most part, they aren’t consistently good. I had this problem with WandaVision, which I loved in the first four episodes, but thought fell apart toward the end, and also felt it with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s finale, which nosedived so hard that our very own Nick Venable wrote a whole article about the 10 biggest problems with the finale. Hell, even Moon Knight, which I mostly loved, also had at least two things that I really disliked about it.
But, She-Hulk was consistently great throughout. At no point did I dread “having” to watch a weekly episode, as I wanted to tune in each Thursday. At no point did the fourth wall breaks feel annoying, but rather, they felt integral to the show (especially in that bonkers season finale). At no point did I get bored with it, or want to watch something else instead. In fact, not since Loki have I genuinely been this invested in a Marvel TV show, and not even Loki got me this enthused. I loved every second of it!
It Used Its Guest Appearances Highly Effectively
Secondly, can we all just agree that Wong is the MCU’s MVP? In fact, I would say that all the special guest Marvel characters on She-Hulk, from Daredevil to Abomination, were welcome additions and made the show that much better. In fact, some of the very best moments of the show were of Emil Blonksy’s new age transition, and Jen Walter’s reaction to it.
Really, there were only three major MCU appearances with Wong, Abomination, and Daredevil, but every one of those appearances was golden and hilarious. From Wong’s fondness for watching great TV, to Daredevil’s “walk of shame” down Jen’s block after a hot hook-up, the guest appearances didn’t feel forced like they sometimes do in these Marvel shows and movies. Hell, even newcomer Madisynn (Patty Guggenheim) stole the show as Wong’s now friend who has a Y in her name (but not where you thiiiiink). Honestly, I loved She-Hulk herself, but the guest appearances were equally the stars of the show.
It Was Funny, And Not Corny Like Some Other Marvel Projects Tend To Be
Is it just me, or are Marvel shows and movies getting more and more corny these days? Between the cringey “humor” of Thor: Love and Thunder, to the bad jokes in the recent Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the humor coming out of Marvel has been outright insufferable as of late. It’s so forced, I just can’t take it anymore.
But, She-Hulk legitimately made me laugh, and on multiple occasions. From everybody always dumping on Jen (Poor Jen!), even when she was She-Hulk and could lift a metric ton, to Emil Blonsky’s namaste attitude, to Wong always zipping in and out of Kamar-Taj whenever he gets into legal trouble, the show kept the humor coming, and it never let up or made me wish they would just quit with the jokes already. For a show that is meant to be a comedy to actually be funny, well, that’s a one-up for She-Hulk for sure.
It Was Actually A Commentary About Something
She-Hulk’s greatest strong suit may have been the fact that it actually had something to say. I’m not saying that it had anything groundbreaking or philosophical to mull over. This isn’t a freaking dissertation of Kierkegaard. No, instead, She-Hulk decided to focus on and pinpoint all the people (mostly men), who seem to devote their lives to hating on shows and movies that are, to be fair, meant for children (like Star Wars). It also tackled toxic masculinity, and how gross it is, making it a point to put it on full display in all of Jen Walters', and She-Hulk’s many encounters with horrible men.
But, I think the most interesting commentary the show may have had was on the MCU itself, which was put on full display in the season finale, where Jen literally confronted an AI meant to be Kevin Feige. I could go deeper into this, but She-Hulk’s season ender playfully poked so much fun at how stale the MCU has gotten lately that I’m shocked that they were able to get away with it. It makes me have a new respect for the powers that be at Marvel for actually listening to what the fans have been saying…and mocking the MCU at the same time. Bold move, Marvel. Bold move, indeed.
It Genuinely Got Me To Be Interested In The MCU Again Even After A Great Deal Of Flagging Interest
I recently wrote an article about why I was getting off the Marvel hype train, and yeah, I fully got off when I watched Thor: Love and Thunder, which is, in my mind, the very worst movie to come out of the MCU by far. Even worse than Thor: The Dark World, and that’s saying something. I think the recent sequel is emblematic of everything I’ve recently disliked about the current MCU. It’s trying too hard, it’s not funny, and it’s trying to force another new character down our throats to fatten the MCU roster (Hercules).
But, She-Hulk has fully gotten me back on board with the MCU by subverting all my expectations of what the MCU has become. She-Hulk wasn’t trying to widen the MCU. It wasn’t trying to be some huge, explosive series. Instead, it was its own little thing that was fairly confident in what it wanted to be, and that’s a silly, meta, lawyer show with superheroes in it. And in that way, it succeeded on all fronts.
And, that’s just five reasons why I loved She-Hulk. Honestly, there’s so much more I could geek out about this show, but I’ll end there for now. For more news on all things Marvel, make sure to swing by here often!
