After years of being in the works, Marvel Studios unveiled the first official look at She-Hulk on Friday, as part of the Disney+ Day anniversary event. The live-action series will introduce Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it was previously confirmed that her comic-accurate cousin, Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), would factor into the proceedings. The first She-Hulk footage showcased a bit of their dynamic — and raised a number of questions in the process. Banner could be seen multiple times throughout the footage — both in “Smart Hulk” form, giving Jen background on her new powers, and as a human in what appears to be a delightfully-meta retro advertisement for Jen’s law practice.
The most interesting aspect of this footage is that Bruce’s arm — which was damaged severely in the events of Avengers: Endgame when he snapped the Infinity Gauntlet and brought the lost half of the population back — doesn’t appear to be injured at all. This is despite the fact that Bruce was last seen in human form in the mid-credits scene for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is decidedly set after Endgame, and had his arm in a sling.
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So, what could this mean for She-Hulk? There are a few possibilities, depending on how the series decides to tell its story. In the comics, Jennifer accidentally gets her powers in a lifesaving blood transfusion from Bruce — an inciting incident that wouldn’t be as impactful in the MCU if the transfusion occurred while Bruce is stuck in “Smart Hulk” form between the events of Endgame and Shang-Chi. Still, the fact that Bruce’s arm doesn’t appear to be injured at all in the She-Hulk footage, but it is in the Shang-Chi scene, it’s safe to assume that what we’ve seen of She-Hulk is either set way before or after those film’s post-Blip events.
It’s entirely possible that She-Hulk — or at least, the portions of it involving Bruce and his role in Jen’s origin story — could be set during the five years of “The Blip” between Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. This would not only explain seeing both Smart Hulk and human Bruce, as he was canonically discovering how to make Smart Hulk permanent, but it would explore an era of time in the MCU that we’ve see surprisingly little of. Exploring that era, even just for an episode or two of Jen’s origin story, would be interesting in and of itself, given her role as a lawyer for superhero-related cases — which surely hit a fever pitch given the larger societal and legal implications of The Blip.
What do you think of Bruce’s arm being healed in the She-Hulk footage? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
She-Hulk is expected to debut on Disney+ in 2022. If you haven’t checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.
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