The Incredible Hulk Inspired Key MCU She-Hulk Moment

One milestone moment in the arc of Marvel's She-Hulk was actually a deep-cut Marvel Cinematic Universe callback that some fans may have missed! In She-Hulk Episode, 2 Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is forced to deal with the fallout of unleashing her She-Hulk form for the first time in public, thwarting a courtroom escape by superpowered influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil). Even as Jen tries to get her (new giant) feet under her, the world around her decides to run with the narrative of what just happened. 

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

In the beginning of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 2, "Superhuman Law", we get news footage of how the world of the MCU is reacting to She-Hulk's debut. One newscaster talks to a man on the street who was a witness to the event, and that man tries to give name to the female Hulk he saw. "Chick Hulk" doesn't hit quite right when the witness uses it, but the newscaster has a better name in mind: a "She-Hulk." 

As ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast points out in this post, the newscaster naming She-Hulk was a comedic spin on the MCU's origin of Bruce Banner's Hulk name. In The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner's Hulk-out at Culver University gets blown up in the media, and one university student witness gets on camera and describes the monster he saw as  "so big, it was like this huge... like, Hulk!" 

It was a somewhat corny on-the-nose way for Incredible Hulk to establish how the Jade Giant got his name; like so many things in She-Hulk, the show is both emulating and mocking the MCU in all its self-importance, with this She-Hulk naming. This humorous moment gets taken a step further when Jen has to deal with the fact that she's been labeled "the She-Hulk," a name she never chose for herself but will be forever be stamped with. It's just another subtle way that She-Hulk is re-examining superhero lore and culture from a modern female perspective. 

This naming callback wasn't the only way that She-Hulk Episode 2 had to deal with the legacy of The Incredible Hulk: Jen's new job as a lawyer leading the superhuman division comes at the cost of having to make her first case defending Emile Blonsky (The Abomination) in his parole appeal – just when the world finds out that Abomination is moonlighting by doing cage match fights with Sorcerer Supreme Wong. That should make She-Hulk Episode 3 about as exciting as any Hulk sequel could've been...

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law streams new episodes every Thursday on Disney+.