We’re midway through Season 7 of The Flash, and the long-running The CW series has already worked in quite a lot of comic lore. In addition to expanding upon The Flash’s more recent comic mythos — and introducing Bart Allen/Impulse in the near future — the series hasn’t been afraid to make tongue-in-cheek references to larger popular culture. That was particularly clear with the series’ most recent episode, “Fear Me”, which took a self-aware approach to one of the series’ most recent baddies, all while name-dropping a major Marvel hero along the way. Spoilers for Season 7, Episode 5 of The Flash, “Fear Me”, below! Only look if you want to know!
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Early on in the episode, Team Flash further addressed the previous episode’s fight against Alexa Antigone/Fuerza, a young woman with the ability to harness the Strength Force. As Cisco Ramon/Vibe (Carlos Valdes) provided more context about her, he also remarked that her name is Fuerza because “She-Hulk is already taken.”
Yes, The Flash exists in a completely different universe from anything tied to Marvel. But the series — as well as the Arrowverse as a whole — have been unafraid to reference the lore of Marvel Comics. It’s never definitively been confirmed that Marvel exists as some sort of pop-culture franchise in the Arrowverse, but it’s clear that both their comics and some of their movies have been reference points.
This comes as She-Hulk is actually gearing up to make her live-action debut, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe officially greenlighting a Disney+ exclusive series surrounding her. She-Hulk will follow Jennifer Walters’ (Tatiana Maslany) journey as a New York City lawyer, whose life is changed after she gets into an accident, leading to her receiving a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner. Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk in the series, and Tim Roth will be returning to his The Incredible Hulk role as Abomination. Ginger Gonzaga has been cast in a currently-unknown role. The series will be showrun by Jessica Gao, whose filmography includes Silicon Valley and Rick and Morty. Directors on the series will include Kat Coiro (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Anu Valia (Never Have I Ever, A.P. Bio).
What do you think of the reference to She-Hulk on The Flash? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
