Over more than a decade of Marvel Cinematic Universe content and almost a century of superhero source material, there are a lot of go-to questions and jokes fans have brought up. The MCU has certainly told a lot of jokes in its films and series, but, with its newest series, the franchise can take a humorous look at itself.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Lawis the long-awaited adaptation of the comic book adventures of Jennifer Walters. In contrast to her cousin, from whom she got her name and powers, her stories have often taken a comedic tone, packed with plenty of self-criticisms from the comic book empire.
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She-Hulkis a superhero sitcom combinedwith a legal procedural. It follows Walters as her sudden affliction with Hulk powers flips her otherwise normal life on its head. In the midst of a jury trial, she’s forced to use her power to save lives and winds up fired for her trouble. Thanks to the immense publicity she receives for her superhuman gifts, no other law firm is interested in hiring her. This leaves her desperate until she’s approached by a high-powered lawyer with an offer she can’t afford to refuse. Before long, she finds herself in the first major law firm’s superhero law division as a representative of those with abnormal abilities. Throughout her journey, Walters is constantly faced with the same question. People keep asking why she doesn’t just follow in her cousin’s footsteps and use herpowers to become a superhero. Her answers vary, but the sentiment behind them is primarily that the superhero business isn’t a good career.
One of the most common themes of superhero stories is responsibility.Spider-Man is the most memorable example, but almost every hero encounters a moment when they realize that they must use their superpowers to help others. They aren’t forced to, they take on a huge amount of risk in exchange, they only stand to benefit from choosing to leave others to their fate, but they don’t. If there’s an essential lesson that applies to superhero stories across the board it’s that those with power owe a duty to those without that must be paid, no matter the cost. Walters will likely learn that lesson within two or three more episodes. Anyone with a normal life, however, would identify throwing that life away or massively complicating it to save people with powers they didn’t ask for would be a massive imposition.She-Hulktakes that conceptand plays it for laughs, often with very direct reference.
The most on-the-nose gag on this subject comes when Walters goes out for a drink with her friend and paralegal Nikki after the loss of her job. Like everyone else in her life, Nikki asks her why she doesn’t simply abandon the bureaucratic world that has rejected her, don a spandex suit,and join The Avengers. Her response is to question what the iconic superhero team pays and whether they offer benefits. For her, a regular person living a normal life until recently, super-heroism isn’t a calling that she feels in her very soul. It’s another option in her ongoing job search. She probably weighed it as evenly as she did the options in the “10 Jobs for a Fresh Start” article she found herself reading. Those questions of compensation and benefits, of material conditions and real living, are exactly the kind of things fans are likely to ask in a pedantic gag at a comic book story’s expense.
There’s a throwaway line inAvengers: Age of Ultronin which Steve Rogers tells Sam Wilson that he can’t afford a place in Brooklyn. It’s a joke, primarily aimed at the gentrification and criminal increase in rent prices over the decades Steve spent in the ice. He’d remember it as a very different area, his fish-out-of-water demeanor is funny. But, the more pedantic voices in the audience would raise a finger and offer an “um, actually” to the idea. Why doesn’t Steve have any money? Superhero work should pay extremely well, or at least people who do the hard work of saving lives should be able to support themselves.She-Hulkaddresses ideas like that one, but instead of offering explanations, it makes a joke out of the idea.
Obviously, Disney won’t allow people to actually point out the massive problems with their intellectual properties. They will, however, let them poke fun at overdone gags that some fans have put out. The everyday lives of superheroes don’t always make it to the screen or the page, but Jennifer Walter’s life finds the absurdity in those little issues. From the gags about The Avengers' benefits package to Steve Rogers' love life,She-Hulk: Attorney at Lawhas pulled some solid jokes out of the MCU’s history. Disney still chokes the life out of even the lightest criticism, lest anyone remind the audience of what they’ve done to art, but at least they’re having fun doing it.
