SPOILER She-Hulk (2022)

Well, this is the one that so many people were waiting for... and honestly, it was pretty good!

I may have said this before, but I could never get into the Daredevil show. But Matt here was much more enjoyable, and his chemistry with Jen was off the charts.

Other thoughts:

-Leap Frog was pretty funny. Once again, this show does a great job of bringing in more Marvel characters that we'd otherwise probably never see. I never knew how badly I wanted a weekly MCU show that gave us comedic takes on D Listers.

- They gave Matt a hallway scene... though promptly took it away . I saw that one coming a mile away, and get why they did it, though I wouldn't have minded seeing him in action for a little longer. I expect The Internet is probably pretty upset at that one.

- The walk of shame was great

- A couple pretty good Easter Eggs. The Sokovia Accords being repealed makes a lot of sense, and the Red Hulk mention was fun.

- The ending... meh. idk how you could end a show like this, given how there hasn't really been much of an overarching story, but going into next week's finale really feels like we've seen the best of the show already. I'm sure I'll still like whatever they have for us, and I'll be happy to eat my words, but it still seems like the leaks were correct, given what's transpired since.

 

Final episode random thoughts!

- even as someone far too young to have originally watched the old Hulk TV show, I LOVED that opening

- I loved the depictions of the trolls, and how they relate to a certain cringey culture that tends to find themselves... well, "in cells".

- the Hulk King reveal? pretty underwhelming. Obviously it was the creepiest weirdo from the whole season.

- Honestly surprised the Wrecking Crew or Abomination really did remain . But I do appreciate that this show is less about the big combat encounters (at least, not in a traditional sense), so I suppose it works.

- The KEVIN stuff... man, it seemed WAY too meta at first. Like, I hate to be that guy, but at one point it kinda felt like the whole MCU broke. It just felt ridiculously self-indulgent, to the point of really undoing so much of the worldbuilding that this show and so many other projects had worked on. I loved the more subtle fourth-wall breaks this season... but this seemed much too far, canon-breaking. However, by the end, I was won over. The way that it pretty well mended the canon, gave Jen an ending that wasn't too overly dramatic, and was actually pretty thematic to the show's larger themes (looking at you, WandaVision) was actually kinda brilliant. But... WHEW, they almost really lost me there.

- Hulk's back? There goes my theory for a Planet Hulk or World War Hulk movie, at least the way I envisioned. Though... Skar? Wow, didn't see that coming. And Jen did mention to save Hulk "for the movie", so we'll see.

- Matt's return was great. I loved the dinner scene.

- Wong returning for Emil was... meh. It was less exciting to me, and more just a reminder that these shows tend to write themselves in a way that they're skippable, resetting the slate for those who only watch the movies (much like Cap's shield in The Winter Soldier). So, not like it ruined my day or anything, but treating it as some big post credits reveal was a letdown. Skar was way cooler.

 

Just to add to what @LadyMusashi said,

Spoiler: Spoilers for Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, Son of Sakaar, etc comics

this all happens during the "Planet Hulk" storyline- which in the comics is somewhat similar to what happened in the Thor: Ragnarok movie, but with quite a bit more including a planetary uprising (or so I remember, it's been like 7 years since I've read it). Also, Planet Hulk happens because the Illuminati (a similar group to the ones in MoM, but this time belong to the prime universe) banishes him to space given the inherent danger an out of control Hulk poses to Earth. He meets Caiera who if I recall correctly becomes (or already was?) the queen of Sakaar and enters a relationship with her. Eventually he leaves back to earth, when the World War Hulk storyline happens and Hulk fights a lot of the heroes that once banished him. He later then returns back to Sakaar (or Skaar comes to earth? Don't quire remember) where he meets his now grown son.

Anyway, given how this could kinda fit into the MCU, this is why I originally thought that Hulk returning to Sakaar could give us a proper Planet Hulk movie in the future that would go beyond just the gladiatorial pits (especially since Marvel Studios will regain the license to make a Hulk movie in a few years, as She Hulk alludes to). That, or maybe he'd return in some unexplained rage, and actually be the villain of the Thunderbolts movie, in a sort of twist on the World War Hulk story. The fact that he's already back now, and with Skaar, is a bit of a surprise to me- but I guess it's still possible that either of those options could actually occur in the timeline prior to the coda of She Hulk.

 

People have been praising this Bosslogic edit of Skaar, and... I mean sure, it looks much more imposing and maybe a little more comic accurate, but you have to remember this is homeboy showing up for a picnic at his extended family's house.


I'm sure he'll look a little edgier during fights, if he's used in future projects.