She-Hulk Pokes Fun at Her Comic-Accurate Origin Story

The third episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law arrived on Disney+ this morning, and the episode has definitely given Marvel Cinematic Universe fans a lot to talk about. At the center of the live-action series is Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), and elements of her unique and storied Marvel Comics canon have been brought to life onscreen. In Episode 3, that included a sly homage to her comic-accurate origin story. Spoilers for Episode 3 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, “The People vs. Emil Blonsky”, below! Only look if you want to know!

Part of the episode concerns Jen representing Emil Blonsky / Abomination (Tim Roth) in his parole hearing, which quickly turns into something of a media circus. While coming and going from the prison at one point, a reporter asks if there’s any truth to the rumor that Jen got her She-Hulk powers “from a mob hit gone wrong.” This pays homage to the story from Savage She-Hulk #1, which sees Jen being shot in a mob hit from Nicholas Trask and needing to get a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner / Hulk. Instead of adapting that storyline onscreen, the show decided to have Jen accidentally get exposed to Bruce’s blood during a car accident — a decision that head writer Jessica Gao says came about for a specific reason.

“There were a couple of reasons for making the changes,” Gao explained in a recent interview with Inverse. “The heads of Marvel specifically didn’t want to do a mob hit. I think it was because it didn’t feel like it vibed with the show.”

“I spent a lot of time thinking about Bruce and whether or not the Bruce that we know from the movies would actually give his cousin a blood transfusion, even if it is an emergency,” Gao continued. “We watched him for so many years in so many movies, this version of Bruce Banner, and he’s really struggled with [turning into the Hulk]. He really saw it as a curse. He’s been tortured for so many movies. It took him over a decade to just come to a place where he’s finally okay with it.”

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters as she navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk. The nine-episode series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Tim Roth as Abomination, Charlie Cox as Daredevil, and Benedict Wong as Wong. The cast also includes Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki Ramos, Josh Segarra as Augustus “Pug” Pugliese, Jon Bass as Todd, and Renée Elise Goldsberry as Mallory Book. Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro and Jessica Gao. Co-executive producers are Wendy Jacobson and Jennifer Booth.

New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will debut Thursdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven’t checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.