Welcome back to yet another From page to Screen focusing on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In the show’s first week, we looked at the differences between the comics’ and series’ versions of Jennifer Walters’ origin story. The following week, viewers got a live-action introduction to Jen’s new legal job, taken straight out of Dan Slott’s and Juan Bobillo’s 2004 She-Hulk run—Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway (GLK&H). Episode 3 introduced a reimagined version of comic book villains and now, in its fourth week, the show decided to focus a bit on Jen’s love life.
While mainly focusing on Wong, Donny Blaze, and Madisynn, episode four’s B-plot followed Jen as she tried to rekindle her love life through a dating app. While initially presenting herself as… Jennifer Walters, Attorney at Law (to dismal results), she quickly realized that She-Hulk could be a far more intriguing persona in the eyes of the opposite sex. This didn’t come without its setbacks as the one guy who seemed like a perfect fit, even if being a textbook cliché, lost all interest when Jen reverted to her natural form.
This will undoubtedly become a learning experience for Jen, with one of two outcomes. In the future, she’ll either go out as herself so as not to surprise her dates when the morning comes, or she’ll try to keep up appearances and stay in She-Hulk form for as long as needed, while the guys are still around.
In She-Hulk #1 (2014) she decided to take up the latter as she tries to avoid what she calls “The Look”. The “I-went-home-with-She-Hulk-but-woke-up-to-this.” look. This approach somewhat opposes what we’ve seen from Jen in the series so far, as it is being in She-Hulk form that makes her a bit uncomfortable and feeling not like herself.
But, as in the show, her decision isn’t always the best. And while in the series she got rejected by Arthur for being Jen, in the comic she’s rejected by Mika for being She-Hulk and exuding a lack of depth that perhaps Jennifer herself wouldn’t lack. The fact that Mika was looking for something more while being an underwear model himself just made it sting a little bit more.
Another similarity between the comics and the show is how She-Hulk apparently manages to fascinate all sorts of men. What they all seem to lack is a real interest in who the actual person behind She-Hulk is. When deciding to focus on everything that makes her visually unique, they completely miss the mark on what Jen believes she brings to the table when it comes to being in a relationship. It is only when she lets her guard down and somehow lets herself be a bit more superficial that things evolve, only to bring herself to the previously mentioned early morning rejection.
This, the fact that men seem to have little to no boundaries in terms of approaching She-Hulk just due to the novelty factor, either in weird ways or simply in the worst possible situations, is also a common situation in the comics. This highlights just how entitled some men can be when it comes to women, and also just how much women have to deal with in similar circumstances. And if She-Hulk definitively has the physical prowess to stick up for herself if the situation asks for it, that is definitely not always the case in the real world. The way the series allows Todd to simply utter the words “What a specimen.” right after Jen basically admits to being indestructible just makes everything completely transparent. Just another thing that both the show and the comics have in common. Considering this run is about to turn 20 years old and the subject matter remains incredibly pertinent is also worth highlighting.
At the end of the day, all these trials and tribulations are what eventually lead to Jen feeling more like herself both in and out of She-Hulk form. Understanding when each look better suits the situation and taking advantage of what each allows her to accomplish that the other one doesn’t, as we’ll soon see in the series as we approach the second half of the season.
The first Four episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are now streaming on Disney+.
