Fans knew to expect plenty of guest appearances in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, including the return of Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky / Abomination. The villain originally debuted in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and had a surprise cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, fighting Wong in a seedy cage match. Clips and trailers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law already spoiled Abomination’s return, but there was still the matter of what his role would be in the Disney+ series. Thankfully, the release of Episode 2, titled “Superhuman Law,” provides more insight, and fans are loving them some Abomination.
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“Superhuman Law” finds Jennifer Walters hired by a prestigious law firm, but the company only wants She-Hulk to represent them, not Jen. Her first client is Abomination, which raises a conflict of interest since Emil tried to kill her cousin, Bruce Banner / Hulk. She-Hulkย hilariously addresses the elephant in the room of Mark Ruffalo replacing Ed Norton as Bruce Banner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, meaning the show can put the focus back on Jen and her lawyer duties.ย
She-Hulkย writer Jessica Gao decided she wanted to feature Abomination, and discussed her thought process behind the decision and how it influenced Shang-Chi. “So Abomination, Emil Blonsky was in my original pitch and at that point, the last time we saw him was in 2008,ย The Incredible Hulk,” Gao told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview. “I had no idea what their relationship to this character was anymore. I don’t know if they had any plans but it was a story I wanted to tell so I just put it in there. What’s the worst that could happen? I don’t get the job. Look, I have not gotten the job so many times at Marvel like it was old hat to me. I had no more fear. I was like Daredevil. I was the woman with no fear now.”
With Abomination’sย She-Hulkย story in mind, Gao took her shot. She wrote a script with the character and waited to see what would happen. “Because he was built in to be such a big part of the show in that original pitch and in the writer’s room, we really like, we were creating this whole story for him,” Gao recalled. “Because everything in Marvel is connected, that was actually why he then was put inย Shang-Chiย because he was in our show. That way, it was kind of to seed him so that people can get excited but also remember him and it kind of forced people to go, ‘Oh, I should go back and check in on him and remember who he is and what all of that was about.’”
While it was Gao’s idea to bring Abomination back to the MCU, she ultimately credits Marvel boss Kevin Feige for how the return includedย Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. “It’s Kevin,” she said. “All roads lead to Kevin.”
Continue reading to see what fans have to say about Abomination in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
